•MMMMH 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


5/7 


Class 


PAPER    CITY 


BY 


D.    R.    LOCKE, 


(PETROLEUM  v.  NASBY,) 


AUTHOR  OF  "SWINGING  ROUND  THE  CIRKLE,"  "  EKKOES  FROM  KENTUCKY," 
"MORALS  OF  ABOU  BEN  ADHEM,"  ETC. 


BOSTON  I 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD,    PUBLISHERS. 

NEW  YORK  •  CHARLES  T.  DILLINGHAM. 
1879- 


HJUKR6 


COPYRIGHT, 
1878, 

BY  LEE  AND  SHEFAKD. 


BOSTON : 
Printed  by  ALBERT  J.  WRIGHT,  79  Milk  Street. 


A  WORD  OR  TWO. 


THE  wonderful  growth  of  the  Great  West,  a  growth, 
which,  in  the  short  space  of  a  man's  life-time,  converted 
vast  praries  and  interminable  forests  into  gardens,  and 
the  humblest  hamlets  into  great  and  opulent  cities,  de 
veloped  a  spirit  of  speculation,  which  was,  in  some  in 
stances  amusing,  and,  in  others  tragical. 

All  the  cross-roads  of  the  West  expected  to  become 
Chicagos,  and  every  man,  owning  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  lived  in  expectation  of  seeing,  before  he 
should  depart,  stately  buildings  upon  it,  and  of  selling 
his  ground  for  more  per  foot  front,  than  it  cost  him  per 
acre. 

The  following  pages  simply  record  the  rise,  progress 
and  fall  of  one  of  the  thousands  of  these  "  cities,"  and 
it  has  the  meVit,  if  no  other,  of  being  entirely  free  from 
exaggeration. 

For  many  of  the  chapters  of  the  book,  I  am  indebted 
to  the  brilliant  and  facile  pen  of  "  Shirley  Dare."  The 
intelligent  reader,  and  all  readers  are  presumed  to  be 
intelligent,  will  have  no  difficulty  in  determining  what 
part  of  the  work  is  hers. 

D.    R.    L. 


CONTENTS. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER     I. 

PAGR. 

NEW  CANTON  AS  IT  WAS 9 


CHAPTER    II. 
MORE  ABOUT  NEW  CANTON 25 

CHAPTER     III. 
THE  GARDINER  FAMILY  AND  SOME  OTHERS  .       36 

CHAPTER     IV. 
A  CHANGE  OF  HEART        .  ....       51 

CHAPTER     Y. 
NEW  CANTON  UNDER  A  CLOUD  ,         .         .         .61 

CHAPTER     VI. 
JAMES  GARDINER  MAK^S  TROUBLE    .         .         .         .       T4 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 
MRS.  BURT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE         .         .  .85 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
A  WEDDING  COUNCIL         .         .         *         •         •         •     1°* 

CHAPTER    IX. 
A  PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  NEW  CANTON  '  .     118 

CHAPTER    X . 

TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING     . 

CHAPTER     XI. 

Ax  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT  IN  NEW  CANTON      .         .     155 

CHAPTER    XII. 
THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  THE  CITY.  —  A  LAWSUIT    .     171 

CHAPTER     XIII. 

ELIPHALET  BUTTERFIELD'S  DAUGHTER 

CHAPTER    XIV. 
JAMES  GARDINER  MAKES  AN  EFFORT  TO  REFORM        .     203 

CHAPTER    XV. 

NEW  CANTON  IN  THE  DUMPS    . 

CHAPTER    XVI, 
A  CHANCE  MEBFINO 226 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER    XVII. 
MR.  BURT  DISPLAYS  GENIUS  AS  A  FINANCIER 

CHAPTER     XVIII. 

THE  NEW  OF  THE  Moox  .         .         .         .         •     '   •     246 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

How  NEW  CANTON  PROSPERED          .         .         .         -     258 

CHAPTER    XX. 

FLUSH  TIMES  IN  NEW  CANTON  .  .     264 

CHAPTER     XXI. 

PLAYING  AT  LOVE      .         .'        .'  •         •         •     273 

CHAPTER    XXII. 
MR.  BURT  BUYS  A  PIANO  •    287 

CHAPTER     XXIII. 

THE  CONSERVATIVES  BEGIN  TO  BELIEVE 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

HIGH  SCANDAL  IN  NEW  CANTON        .         .  '      .         .     310 

CHAPTER     XXV. 

NEW  CANTON  ENTERS  ON  A  HIGHER  PLANE       .         .     325 

CHAPTER     XXVI. 

THE  CLOUD  BIGGER  TH\X  A  MAN'S  HAND          . '  .    .     340 


8  CONTENDS. 

CHAPTER     XXVII. 
EMELINE  AND  JIM 350 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
OXE  NAIL  DRIVES  ANOTHER  OUT  i"        .         .         362 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 
SOMETHING  HAPPENS         .,.--•         .         .         .373 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE  EFFECT  ON  NEW  CANTON    .         .         .         .         .377 

CHAPTER     XXXI. 

THE  TROUBLE  THAT  CAME  UPON  THE  GARDINERS          .     387 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

MORE  FAILURES         .         .         .         .  .         .395 

CHAPTER     XXXIII. 
THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  FAMILIES      .         .404 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 
WHAT  MR.  BURT  FOUND  IN  CHICAGO.       .         .  9     .     409 

CHAPTER     XXXV. 
WHAT  HAPPENED  TO  TOM  PADDLEFORD      .  .416 

CHAPTER     XXXVI. 
WHICH  is  THE  LAST  .         .         .         .         .         .421 


A  PAPER   CITY 


CHAPTER     I. 

NEW  CANTON   AS   IT   WAS   IN   ITS   FIRST,    SECOND, 
AND   THIRD   PERIODS. 

NEW  CANTON  was  originally  the  meanest  little 
town  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  which  puts  New 
Canton  very  low  in  the  scale  of  towns.     At  its  begin 
ning  it  had  a  post-office,  a  blacksmith's  shop,  a  very 
small  school-house,  a  Methodist  chapel,  and  a  dozen 
dwellings,  set  down  in  the  mud  and  desolation  of  a 
wide   prairie.      It  was  the  same  for  a  dozen   years. 
Wandering  Israelites,  of  a  misanthropic  turn  of  mind, 
would,  about  three  times  a  year,  open  a  stock  of  ready- 
made  clothing,  and  invite  trade  ;  but  they  invariably 
left  the  place  as  soon  as  they  had  gathered  cash  or 
credit  enough  to  do  business  somewhere  else.     They 
always  afterward  spoke  of  New  Canton  with  a  sigh  of 
regret  for  wasted  time.     About  three  times  a  year  a 
sad-eyed  photographer,  thin  of  face  and  long  of  hair, 
who  had  failed  everywhere  else,  would  rent  the  upper 
story  of  the  village  store,  and  urge  the  people  to  "  se 
cure  the  shadow  ere  the  substance  fade,"  an  invitation 
which  only  resulted  in  visitors  to  look,  who  all  in 
tended  to  have  their" "  pictures  taken  "  at  some  period 
more  or  less  remote,  but  who  never  did.     His  stay  was 

(9) 


10  A  PAPER   CITY. 

always  short;  and  he  generally  walked  to  the  next 
town,  leaving  his  apparatus,  as  security  for  board,  at 
the  Eagle  Hotel.  The  traveling  dentist  found  his 
way  thither  at  shorter  intervals  ;  but  he  generally  fol 
lowed  the  example  of  the  photographer  :  and  the  lec 
turers  on  phrenology,  who  came  regularly,  always 
went  away  sadder  and  wiser  men. 

The  landlord  of  the  Eagle  had  a  large  and  varied 
assortment  of  photographic,  dental,  and  phrenological 
apparatus  stored  in  the  room  behind  his  bar ;  for  it 
was  a  melancholy  fact,  that  those  who  left  them  in 
pledge  never  returned  to  redeem  them ;  and  it  was 
his  belief,  that  the  unfortunate  "  artists,"  "professors," 
and  "  doctors  "  drowned  themselves  in  Soggy  Run,  just 
out  of  the  village.  He  felt  that  a  short  stay  in  New 
Canton  by  a  stranger  would  lead  to  suicide,  in  the 
natural  run  of  things. 

"I  don't  blame  'em,"  was  his  remark.  "  New  Can 
ton  don't  take  to  picters,  to  science  or  teeth.  I 
never  know'd  a  dentist,  a  picter  man,  or  a  lectrer  on 
phrenology  to  git  out  of  here  whole.  They  ginerally 
come  in  ridin'  in  the  stage,  all  so  gay ;  but  they  gin 
erally  go  away  on  foot.  It's  curious  :  people,  not  only 
in  New  Canton,  but  everywhere,  are  a-comin'  in  a-rid- 
in',  and  a-goin'  out  on  foot.  I  don't  mind  the  den 
tists  ;  their  tools  kin  be  used  by  the  gunsmith,  and  I 
git  suthin'  out  uv  'em.  Photograph  men  an't  bad ; 
some  day  I  shel  be  able  to  sell  their  cam'rers  and  kimi- 
kels,  and  my  children  kin  play  with  'em,  anyway.  But 
lectrers  on  phrenology !  bah !  w'at  kin  I  do  with  a  lot 
o'  skulls  ?  Not  one  on  'em  ever  had  any  clothes  that 
I  could  levy  onto." 

And,  thus  saying,  he  would  light  another  pipe,  and 


NEW   CANTON   AS   IT  WAS.  11 

wonder,  as  he  smoked,  if  New   Canton  would  ever 
come  to  any  thing. 

It  came  to  something,  in  the  course  of  time.  The 
prairie  was  rich ;  and  immigrants  from  the  Eastern 
States  filled  it  up.  A  branch  road  was  built  from  the 
Illinois  Central  to  New  Canton ;  and,  trade  centering 
there,  it  became  a  very  decent,  quiet  village,  of  per 
haps  a  thousand  people,  with  churches,  shops,  saloons, 
and  other  modern  conveniences. 

At  the  time  this  history  opens,  New  Canton  was 
neither  the  insignificant  prairie  village  nor  the  more 
substantial  railroad  town.  Its  sleepy  quietude  had 
gone  ;  the  sound  of  the  hammer  and  saw  was  heard 
within  its  borders ;  busy  and  bustling  men  filled  its 
streets ;  and  its  people  dropped  the  word  "  village," 
in  speaking  of  it,  for  the  more  satisfactory  one  of 
"  city."  Its  appearance,  however,  hardly  improved 
enough  to  justify  the  change;  and  it  was  made  with 
some  awkwardness. 

The  regulation  building,  for  business  and  dwelling 
purposes,  was  a  story-and-a-half  frame  house,  gable 
end  to  the  street,  and,  as  a  rule,  unpainted.  The  few 
that  had  been  painted  looked  worse  than  those  that 
had  not  —  healthy,  natural  ugliness  being  always  pref 
erable  to  decayed  beauty.  Beside  the  honest,  weather- 
beaten  walls,  the  patchy  red  and  white  of  such  as  had 
been  painted  and  peeled  looked  as  though  they  had  an 
attack  of  timber-m easels,  and  never  got  over  it. 

The  town  had  the  whole  prairie  to  grow  over ;  and 
might  have  reached  a  hundred  miles  north  and  a  hundred 
miles  south  without  barrier  ;  but,  as  if  land  was  too 
dear  to  be  wasted,  lots  were  laid  out  as  in  the  heart 
of  a  city,  twenty  by  a  hundred  feet,  giving  room  enough 


12 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


in  front  for  a  patch  of  red  and  white  balsams,  and  be 
hind  for  a  clothes-line.  The  wood-pile,  was  invari 
ably,  in  the  back  alley,  which  differed  in  no  respect 
from  the  back  alleys  of  other  Western  villages.  A 
broken  wagon  stood  at  the  entrance,  convenient  for 
the  thin  and  piratical  pig  to  pensively  scratch  against ; 
its  entire  length  was  strewn  with  oyster  and  tomato 
cans,  baking-powder  tins,  and  broken  dishes,  left  by 
the  receding  waves  of  the  twice-yearly  house-cleaning. 
Its  precincts  were  sacred  to  that  emblem  of  immor 
tality  —  the  cast-off  hoop-skirt,  the  only  article  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  utterly  indestructible.  Every  house 
keeper  who  had  a  broken,  or  half-worn  article,  too  good 
to  throw  away  and  too  bad  to  steal,  left  it  in  the  alley, 
sure  of  finding  it  should  it  ever  be  wanted.  Wheel 
barrows  with  broken  wheels,  old  bedsteads,  chairs 
mourning  legs,  burned-out  stoves,  cupboards  that 
would  not  fit,  —  every  thing  that,  from  through  care 
lessness  or  lack  of  use,  demanded  storage-room,  was 
left  in  the  alleys,  to  the  weather,  the  pigs,  and  the 
boys. 

In  New  Canton,  to  have  a  two-story  house,  with  a 
garden  and  a  currant  border,  was  to  be  an  aristocrat, 
especially  if  a  man  chose  to  further  define  his  conse 
quence  by  a  picket-fence  and  gate-posts  headed  by 
two  immense  wooden  balls.  At  the  side  of  the  lot 
would  be  a  larger  gate,  —  not  that  it  was  ever  used, 
but  as  an  assumption  that  it  was  necessary  to  admit 
the  carriage  of  the  owner.  But  few  had  carriages  ; 
but  they  liked  the  suggestion  that  in  time  they  might 
have  such  taxable  property. 

There  were  few  of  these  houses  in  New  Canton  ; 
and,  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  those  who  are  inter- 


NEW   CANTON   AS   IT   WAS. 


13 


ested  only  in  the  truly  refined  and  elevated,  it  may 
be  said  now,  with  distinctness,  that  it  is  with  the  oc 
cupants  of  these  two-story  houses  that  this  story  has 

to  do. 

New  Canton  was  the  moon-ribbed,  ill-fed  ghost  of  a 
city —  not  a  one-horse  but  a  one-mule  town,  begotten 
by  the  lying  promise  of  four  spectral  railroads,  on  the 
expectation  of  an  impossible  ship-canal.  One  specu 
lator,  with  cheek  of  brass  and  tongue  hung  upon 
swivel ;  three  speculators  not  so  gifted,  but  equally 
unscrupulous,  with  just  as  little  to  lose  ;  and  one  hon 
est  but  deluded  man,  adopted  the  creature,  and  chat 
tered  men  into  the  belief  there  was  stuff  in  it  for  a 
lusty  present  and  a  vigorous  future. 

It  had  two  newspapers,  whose  editors  hated  each 
other  like  pretty  women,  and  who  never  agreed  upon 
any  thing  but  the  prospects  of  New  Canton ;  three 
churches,  on  very  bad  terms  with  each  other,  but  on 
wonderfully  pleasant  relations  with  the  world ;  four  law 
yers,  each  of  whom  spent  the  most  of  his  time  wonder- 
inn-  how  any  man  could  entrust  business  with  such 
knaves  as  the  others ;  three  physicians,  each  of  whom 
in  confidence  assured  everybody  else  that  the  others 
were  quacks,  and  remarked,  with  solemn  countenance, 
when  the  bell  tolled  for  a  death  :  "  Mrs.  Smith  is  gone 
at  last,  poor  woman !  I  didn't  think  she  would  last 
so  long.  Borax"  — or  Blister,  as  the  case  might  be 
—  "was  attending  her.  But  she  had  a  wonderful 
constitution.  Time  was  when  some  qualification  was 
necessary  to  practice  medicine." 

At  this  era  in  its  history  New  Canton  made  a  thriv 
ing  show  —  upon  paper.  Railroads  !  Railroads  were 
more  numerous  upon  its  map  than  common  highways 


14  A  PAPER   CITY. 

a  year  before.  The  "  Great  Central,"  the  "  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,"  the  "  Midland,"  the  "  Consolidated  Con 
tinental,"  each  with  its  score  of  feeders,  were  all  to 
cross  at  New  Canton,  making  it  the  great  railroad  cen 
ter  of  the  United  States.  The  map  looked  like  a 
magnified  spider-web,  with  New  Canton  for  a  fly 
catcher  in  the  center. 

This  map  and  the  expectations  on  which  it  was 
based  were  the  offspring  of  the  active  and  intelligent 
mind  of  Mr.  Charles  Burt,  a  man  of  a  type  very  com 
mon  to  the  country  during  the  last  twenty-five  years. 
Mr.  Burt  settled  as  a  dentist  in  New  Canton.  He 
came  by  accident,  and  stayed  for  a  purpose.  He  in 
tended  at  first  to  open  an  office,  and  "  grow  up  with 
the  country."  He  had  known  Mr.  Gardiner,  who 
did  the  small  banking  for  the  town :  they  were  from 
the  same  Connecticut  town,  and  had  gone  to  school 
together.  He  did  not  open  an  office,  however  ;  but 
for  several  weeks  wandered  about  the  village,  evi 
dently  carrying  an  idea,  which  in  the  course  of  time 
would  see  the  light. 

It  came  one  morning  —  full-grown,  adult.  He  got 
together,  in  Gardiner's  bank,  that  estimable  gentle 
man,  Col.  Peppernell,  Capt..  Peak,  and  'Squire  Sharp, 
and,  in  the  phrase  of  American  business  men,  "  had  a 
proposition  to  make  to  them." 

The  conduct  of  Mr.  Burt  was  singular,  before  he 
reached  his  theme.  Without  giving  any  reason,  he 
closed  the  blinds  of  the  little  back  office,  stuffed  a 
paper  wad  in  the  key-hole,  and  carefully  shut  the  door 
of  the  coat-closet,  the  others  sitting  in  some  wonder 
ment. 

"  What  under  heavens  're  you  about?  "  asked  Pep- 


NEW   CANTON   AS   IT   WAS.  15 

pernell,  his  fish-eyes  following  these  mysterious  move 
ments. 

"  Gentlemen,  when  one  has  a  million  of  dollars  to 
make,  he  don't  care  about  showing  everybody  how  it 
is  done." 

Sure  that  no  one  was  listening,  he  unrolled  a  map 
of  the  state  of  Illinois  on  the  table.  With  a  pair  of 
dividers,  one  point  on  New  Canton,  he  described  a 
circle  with  great  solemnity. 

"  Gentlemen,  this  line  shows  a  radius  of  one  hun 
dred  miles  from  New  Canton.  I  assert,  and  my  action 
is  based  upon  the  assertion,  that  it  is  possible  for  New 
Canton  to  do  the  entire  trade  of  not  only  that  coun 
try,  but  of  great  areas  in  other  directions." 

He  paused ;  and  silence  fell  upon  the  company,  as 
if  they  were  considering  this  proposition. 

"  How  are  you  going  to  do  it  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Gardi 
ner,  as  being  the  one,  who,  from  his  position  as  the 
financial  head  of  New  Canton,  was  the  proper  person 
to  break  silence. 

"  Socrgy  Run !  "  was  the  quick  and  decided  answer. 
"  What  about  Soggy  Run  ?  "  Avas  the  natural  ques 
tion  of  Mr.  Gardiner. 

"  Dry  six  months  in  the  year,  frozen  up  rest  of  the 
time,"  was  Peppernell's  remark. 

Mr.  Burt  took  no  notice  of  Peppernell,  but  pro 
ceeded  to  Mr.  Gardiner's  query  :  - 

«  Soggy  Run,  as  you  see,  empties  into  the  Catfish, 
twenty  miles  below  here  ;  Catfish  empties  into  Eel 
Creek,  twenty  miles  below  that.  There  appears  to  be 
no  connecting  water  between  Eel  Creek  and  the  Illi 
nois  River,  one  hundred  miles  below,  but  I  have  no 
doubt  that  there  is.  If  an  exploration  or  survey  fails 


16  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

to  discover  any  such  water,  the  building  of  a  canal  to 
connect  the  system  of  streams  of  which  Soggy  Run 
may  be  said  to  be  the  father  with  the  Illinois  River  is 
not  an  impossibility  in  this  day  of  enterprise  and 
development.  This  done,  3^011  will  see  that  the  Soggy 
Run  system  mingles  with  the  placid  waters  of  the 
Illinois  one  hundred  miles  below  Peoria,  giving  us 
just  one  hundred  miles'  advantage  over  that  city.  The 
idea  is  to  improve  Soggy  Run  —  slack-water  it,  dam 
it  here,  dredge  it  there,  turn  Cow  Run  into  it  above 
this,  so  there'll  be  no  want  of  water  for  any  craft, 
from  a  stern-wheeler  to  the  biggest  side-wheeler  that 
ever  blew  up  on  the  Mississippi. 

"  What  follows  ?  All  the  produce  of  this  vast  ter 
ritory  must  come  here  for  shipment.  This  makes  it  a 
point,  you  see.  All  the  railroads  will  have  to  come  to 
this  point,  to  get  their  share  of  the  immense  freight 
centering  here.  There  is,  probably,  coal  underlying 
this  whole  territory.  With  coal  in  exhaustless  quan 
tities  and  with  our  \von(lerful  freight  facilities,  manu 
factures  spring  up,  great  mercantile  interests  center 
here,  New  Canton  becomes  next  to  Chicago  in  size 
and  power,  and  every  man  wise  enough  to  take  advan 
tage  of  it  becomes  a  millionaire.  I  have  made  all  the 
calculations.  The  work  can  be  done  for  three  millions 
of  dollars  —  a  mere  bagatelle,  considering  the  returns ; 
and  we  will,  if  we  are  alive  to  our  interests,  put  it 
through  at  once,  gentlemen." 

"  How  much  money  have  you  to  invest?  "  queried 
Peppernell. 

"  Not  a  dollar  !  "  was  the  prompt  reply.  "  If  I  had 
three  millions  I  shouldn't  want  to  go  into  this  — 

"  None  of  us  have  a  dollar,"  was  PepperneU's 
answer. 


NEW   CANTON   AS   IT   WAS.  17 

«  Of  course,  we  haven't,"  was  the  cheerful  reply 
of  the  philosophical  Burt,  as  though  the  last  obstacle 
in   the   way  of  their   undertaking   the   project   was 
removed.     "  If  we  had  all  the  money  we  wanted,  we'd 
see  New  Canton  farther.     We   don't  go  into  enter 
prises  because  we  have  the  money,  but  because  we 
haven't.     To  carry  out  this   particular   great   enter 
prise  we  don't  need  any  money  —  that  is,  not  much. 
Mr.  Gardiner's  name  will  give  us  credit,  and  credit  is 
the  same  as  money :  for  if  people  know  we  can  pay 
they  never  want  us  to.     With  an  array  of  respectable 
names,  capitalists  from  abroad  will  furnish  the  means 
for  the  great  system  of  internal  improvements  —  and, 
byheavens!  I  never  thought  of  it  before  — we   can 
get  an  appropriation  from  Congress,  if  your  member 
has  sense  enough  to  take  stock  in  the  enterprise  and 
get  inside  with  the  railroad  men  so  that  his  vote  will 
tell.     Money  !     All  the  money  we  want  is  enough  to 
pay  the  cost  of  the  incorporation  of  the  company  and 
maps.     We  can't  get  on  without  maps." 

"  But  how  are  we  to  make  money  for  ourselves  out 
of  all  this  ?  "  queried  Mr.  Gardiner. 

"  My  dear  sir,  we  shall  organize  a  land  company. 
We  shall  buy  up  all  the  land,  quietly,  about  this  great 
center,  at  five  dollars  an  acre.  We  shall  lay  it  out  in 
business  lots,  in  manufacturing  lots,  in  city-residence 
lots,  and  in  suburban  lots.  That  along  Soggy  Run 
will  be  laid  out  in  levees.  Then,  with  maps,  pam 
phlets,  and  the  papers,  we  will  show  the  world  what 
New  Canton  is  to  be,  and  —  " 

"  Sell  lots?  "  said  Peppernell,  inquiringly. 
"  Precisely  so,"  was  Burt's  answer  ;  "  and  whoever 
comes  to  buy  will  find  that  New  Canton  property  has 
a  value."  (-0 


18 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


The  meeting  dissolved  without  coming  to  any  con 
clusion.  Gardiner,  Peak,  and  Sharp  were  disposed  to 
laugh  at  Burt  as  an  enthusiastic  dreamer,  a  man  of 
some  ability,  doubtless,  but  as  for  making  a  city  of 
New  Canton,  that  was  more  than  Burt  or  any  man 
belonging  to  New  Canton  was  able  to  do. 

Mr.  Burt,  however,  took  Peppernell  aside  that 
afternoon,  and  had  a  long  conversation  with  him, 
leaving  that  worthy  mightily  convinced. 

The  next  time  the  project  was  discussed  among  the 
four,  Col.  Peppernell  looked  wise.  He  had  thought 
the  matter  over,  and  was  considering  it.  It  was  well 
enough  to  laugh  at  Burt ;  bat  it  would  not  do  to  set 
down  every  bold  idea  coming  from  original  men  as 
chimerical,  just  because  we  never  happened  to  think 
of  it.  People  laughed  at  Fulton's  steamboat,  and  he 
believed  it  took  a  great  deal  of  work  to  get  an  appro 
priation  made  for  the  telegraph. 

Burfc  haunted  his  men  in  their  offices,  waylaid  them 
in  their  houses,  waited  for  them  after  church.  In  the 
most  impossible  places,  no  matter  where  they  went, 
up  started  Burt,  paper  in  hand,  covered  with  figures. 
It  is  justice  to  Mr.  Burt  to  say  that  he  was  the 
farthest  remove  from  any  thing  spread-eagle-like  or 
Micaberish  in  manner.  A  patient,  polite,  keen-vis- 
aged  man,  equally  considerate  of  others'  self-respect 
and  his  own,  who  never  made  himself  offensive  in  any 
way,  never  obtruded,  never  took  too  much  time,  but 
was  pertinacious,  agressive,  interesting  —  he  seldom 
failed  to  make  himself  acceptable,  if  not  his  schemes. 
If  it  had  suited  his  game  to  play  a  loud,  overbearing 
part,  lie,  doubtless,  would  have  proved  equal  to  it ;  but 
business  men  like  the  treatment  of  gentlemen,  and  it 


NEW   CANTON  AS   IT  WAS.  19 

suited  Burt's  physique  and  tastes  to  adopt  it.  His  ap 
pearance  was  fitted  to  carry  out  the  idea.  His 
spare  figure,  always  neatly  dressed ;  his  voice,  moder 
ate,  gentle,  and  impressive,  like  his  gestures,  the  most 
characteristic  of  which  was  a  gentle,  detaining  pres 
sure  of  two  fingers  on  the  listener's  arm. 

"  Don't  you   see,  Mr.  Gardiner,  twenty  thousand 
acres  of  this  land  at  five  dollars  —  they  will  raise  as 
soon  as  we  want  it,  so  we  will  put  it  at  ten  —  is  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.      Very  good.      Cut  that 
land  up  into  lots,  seven  to  the  acre  —  it's  as  well  to 
be  liberal,  though  you  can  get  eight  good  lots  out  of 
an  acre  —  and  you  have  one  hundred  and  forty  thou 
sand  lots.     Did  you  ever  figure  on  the  profit  in  this 
kind  of  thing?      Suppose  you  sell  those  lots  at  the 
absurdly  low   price   of    one    hundred   dollars   each. 
What  have  you  got?     One  hundred  and  forty  thou 
sand  lots  at  one  hundred  dollars  each  foots  up  the 
comfortable   sum   of  fourteen  millions  of  dollars  — 
enough  for  all  of  us,  I  should  say.     But  suppose  we 
don't  sell  them  all.     The  land  will  never  be  worth 
less  than  it  is  now.     Suppose  we   sell  half.     Seven 
millions.     But  they  will  average  more  than  a  hundred 
apiece.     They  can't  go  less  than  three  hundred,  and 
they'll  sell  for  that  as  fast  as  you  can  make  the  deeds 
for  them.     Forty-two  millions.     And  the  choice  lots, 
the  business  property — a  thousand  dollars  now,  ten 
thousand  ten  years  from  now.     Astormade  his  money 
in  real  estate.     Real  estate  is  the  basis  of  every  big 
fortune  in  America.     Why,  what  do  you  suppose  is 
the  average  value  of  arable  land  in  England  ?     Seven 
hundred  dollars  an  acre  !     Mr.  Gardiner,  we  sit  here 
with   our  hands   folded,   with    fortunes   within   our 
reach." 


20  A   PAPER   CITY. 

*  But,  Mr.  Burt,  to  do  all  this  will  require  capital.'* 
4  Not  a  dollar.  We  take  contracts  for  the  land,  and 
sell  the  lots ;  start  improvements  —  or  say  we're  go 
ing  to  start  'em  ;  people  come  in,  and  they  bring 
the  capital.  Those  who  buy  at  a  hundred  will  want 
to  make  them  worth  two  hundred.  They  put  money 
in  Soggy  Run  and  the  railroads  ;  and  by  that  time  we 
shall  have  capital  —  bonds,  mortgages,  and  securities 
of  all  kinds.  We  help  with  the  rest.  Property  goes 
up  a  hundred  per  cent,  two  hundred,  five  hundred,  a 
thousand!  It's  clear  enough." 

"But  why  don't  all  towns  do  the  same  thing  ? 
There  are  other  New  Cantons." 

"  There  are  a  great  many  New  Cantons,  Mr.  Gardi 
ner.  But  there  isn't  everywhere  a  set  of  far-seeing 
men  who  can  see  their  opportunities  and  improve 
them." 

And,  after  he  was  alone,  he  said  to  himself,  "There 
are  many  New  Cantons,  but  there  is  but  one  Burt." 

With  the  others  he  was  equally  urgent,  polite,  and 
persistent. 

"  Talk  of  selling !  What  does  a  working-man  have 
to  pay  for  the  lot  in  Chicago  on  which  he  builds  his 
house  ?  Five,  six,  seven,  eight  hundred  dollars.  Of 
fer  him  one  in  New  Canton  for  one  hundred,  and  see 
how  quickly  he  will  come  here,  if  we  give  him  work 
to  do.  How  will  we  give  him  the  work?  Easy 
enough.  Start  factories ;  encourage  manufacturers  to 
come  to  us  ;  make  business  here.  The  bringing  of 
business  here  sells  the  lots,  and  the  settlement  of  the 
lots  makes  more  business.  Twenty  thousand  people 
support  a  theatre.  A  theatre  employs  fifty  people. 
Those  fifty  people  employ  an  extra  tailor,  an  extra 


NEW   CANTON   AS   IT   WAS.  21 

shoemaker,  an  extra  printer.  Then  we  shall  have  to 
have  a  drayman,  and  he  will  have  to  have  a  lot.  New 
Canton  will  reach  the  dignity  of  a  dray.  All  these 
people  have  to  have  lots.  And  we  have  the  lots.  We 
shall  want  water-works.  We  shall  tax  the  city. 
We  employ  hundreds  of  working-men.  They  have 
to  have  lots.  There  have  got  to  be  lots  for  market- 
houses,  churches,  parsonages,  colleges.  All  want 
lots.  My  dear  sir,  it's  a  dead  sure  thing.  All  that  is 
needed  is  energy  and  promptness.  Prompt  is  the 
word." 

And,  by  dint  of  steady  talk,  and  a  suave  persist 
ency  that  waived  taking  No  for  an  answer,  with 
scraps  of  general  information  concerning  the  matter 
in  hand  which  the  others  did  not  possess,  he  im 
pressed  the  idea  upon  those  he  had  marked,  and  led  ^ 
them  away  captive. 

The  New  Canton  Land  Company,  capital  stock 
$200,000,  was  organized,  with  Peppernell,  Sharp, 
Peak,  Gardiner,  and  Burt,  as  directors,  who  immedi 
ately  elected  Col.  Job  Peppernell  president ;  Thomas 
Gardiner,  Esq.,  vice-president ;  and  Chas.  Burt,  Esq., 
secretary  and  treasurer ;  these  directors  subscribing 
all  the  stock. 

The  company  very  promptly  borrowed  five  hun 
dred  dollars  of  Mr.  Gardiner ;  and  with  that  modest 
sum  got  out  maps  and  other  printed  matter.  Col. 
Peppernell  was  so  much  interested  in  the  project  that 
he  resigned  his  office  of  sheriff,  in  order  to  give  his 
whole  mind  and  time  to  the  project,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  his  salary  had  been  enough  to  support 
him,  and  that  his  deputies  were  sufficient  in  number 
and  anxious  enough  to  hold  their  places  to  keep  him 
full  of  liquor  eighteen  of  the  twenty-four  hours. 


oo 

A  PAPER   CITY. 


,  P  aU  the  y 

get  on  credit  ;  or,  rather,  took  contracts  for  aU 

If  "     T17   W6re   D0t  PartiCUlar  ab™ 
u  red      T,        '  S?    Lat  "°  m0ne^  in  hand  ™»  re- 
They  made  contracts  by  which  they  agreed 
o  pay  so  much  an  acre  for  land  within  a  stipulaed 
time   the  conveyances  to  be  made  by  the  seller  • 
-or  gages  to  secure  the  back  payments  to  be  executed 
by  the  company,  when  the  first  payments  were  made 

per  cent  ™     °f  Tl  *f  ™  ^  ^^  and  thirt7 
ft  Lrth         T      i          than  itS  °WnerS  ever  ^PPosed 
th;  and  real  estate  went  up  in  value  to  prices 
that  a  month  be  ore  would  have  looked  preposterous. 
Mr   Burt  took  all  that  was  offered,  and  at  any  price. 
men  ordinary  fanning  land  reached  fifty  dollars 


Cautious  my  dear  sir  I  why,  this  is  what  we  want; 

and      the  bottom  idea  of  the  venture.     What  is  land 

fty  dollars  an  acre  which  we  sell,  when  cut  up 

•to  lots,  at  seven  hundred  ?    I  am  entirely  willing  to 

pay  a  hundred  —  as  we  pay  it." 

And  he   bought  industriously  till   the   land   com- 
my  had  contracts  for  half  the  territory  within  five 
miles  of  the  village.     This  accomplished,  maps,  gor 
geously  co  ored,  were  issued,  accompanied  by  descrip 
tive  pamphlets.     These    maps    and    the    pamphd 
lowed  advantages  appertaining  to  New  Canton  that 
o  oldest  resident  had  never  dreamed  of,  and  prob 
ably  never  would  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  efforts  of 
these  energetic  gentlemen. 

Mr.  Gardiner  found  it  much  easier  to  get  into  a 
speculation  with  a  man  of  the  Burt  kind  than  it  was 


NEW   CANTON   AS   IT   WAS.  23 

to  get  out.  Five  hundred  dollars  once  in,  it  was  easy 
enough  for  Mr.  Burt  to  checque  another  five  hundred 
for  other  purposes,  and,  as  he  was  the  heaviest  stock 
holder  in  the  concern  —  that  is,  as  he  had  one  undi 
vided  quarter,  in  place  of  one-fifth  —  he  was  bound  to 
stand  by  his  investment,  especially  as  it  was  simply  a 
matter  of  advances,  which  would  be  repaid  out  of  the 
first  proceeds.  And  so,  to  build  a  building,  and  get 
out  more  maps,  and  send  out  agents,  and  employ  sur 
veyors,  it  was  no  time  at  all  before  Mr.  Gardiner  had 
ten  thousand  good  honest  dollars  standing  to  his 
credit  on  the  books  of  the  company,  all  of  which  had 
been  used  in  its  business. 

But  he  consoled  himself  with  looking  at  the  repre 
sentations  of  the  city,  that  his  money  had  paid  for, 
which  on  the  maps  covered  an  area  of  eight  square 
miles.  There  were  displayed  on  it  beautiful  squares, 
bordered  with  lofty  trees,  the  avenues  surrounding 
them  filled  with  carriages  of  all  kinds,  from  the  mod 
est  pair  to  the  ostentatious  six-in-liancl  and  the  eccen 
tric  tandem.  There  were  mechanics'  institute  halls, 
institutes  of  arts  and  sciences,  fountains  in  full  play, 
water-works,  market-houses,  engine-houses,  city-halls, 
libraries,  and  all  the  buildings,  public  and  private,  for 
a  city  of  half-a-million  of  people.  In  the  pamphlet 
it  was  expressly  stated,  that,  while  the  moral  and  edu 
cational  facilities  of  the  city  had  been  looked  after 
carefully,  the  more  material  aspects  of  civilized  life 
had  not  been  forgotten,  as  would  be  seen  by  the  num 
ber  of  engine-houses  on  the  map.  No  city  in  the 
country  was  better  provided  against  fire,  and  it  was 
right  that  it  should  be  so.  Of  what  use  would  be 
four  universities,  twelve  churches,  and  four  libraries, 


24  A   PAPER   CITY. 

to  the  thoughtful  student,  if  they  were  liable  at  any 
time  to  be  licked  up  by  the  red-tongued  destroyer? 
New  Canton  would  be  wise  enough  to  profit  by  the 
misfortunes  of  her  sister,  Chicago,  and  make  ample 
provision  against  such  a  disaster  as  that  which  would 
have  killed  any  less  enterprising  and  recuperative  city. 
On  this  same  map  —  which,  it  is  needless  to  say, 
was  the  work  of  the  ingenious  Mr.  Burt  —  Soggy 
Kun  was  shown  as  it  was  to  be.  There  were  lono- 

o 

lines  of  levees,  with  steam-boats  tied  up,  receiving 
and  discharging  freight  from  and  to  all  parts  of  the 
civilized  world.  It  was  a  stroke  of  his  inventive 
genius  to  have  packages  of  goods  marked  "  Calcutta," 
of  tea  from  China,  and  iron  from  Sweden  rolling  off 
from  some  boats,  while  others  were  represented  as 
taking  on  cargoes  of  grain  and  manufactured  articles, 
consigned  to  well-known  and  eminent  merchants  in 
those  countries. 

These  maps  and  pamphlets  distributed  —  the}*-  were, 
so  to  speak,  the  seed  of  the  enterprise  —  Mr.  Burt  sat 
down  calmly,  and  in  confidence  awaited  his  harvest. 


MORE  ABOUT  NEW  CANTON.         25 


CHAPTER    II. 

MOEE  ABOUT  NEW   CANTON. 

THE  maps  and  the  pamphlets  distributed,  and 
the  effect  showing  itself  in  the  increased  num 
ber  of  people  that  immediately  came  into  the  place 
with  inquiries  as  to  real  estate,  Mr.  Burt  became  at 
once  the  most  prominent  man  in  the  place.  He  was 
not  only  the  inventor  of  the  land  company,  but  he 
was  its  motive  power.  Without  him  there  would 
have  been  no  land  company ;  without  him,  it  would 
not  have  survived  its  birth  an  hour. 

And,  as  the  land  company  was  all  there  was  of 
New  Canton,  its  projector  and  promoter  sprang  into 
consequence.  Strangers  poured  into  the  town,  much 
to  the  profit  of  the  publicans ;  and  that  class,  as  they 
counted  their  increased  profits,  blessed  him  unctuously. 
Those  who  had  sold  land  at  twice  its  value,  took  off 
their  hats  to  him  reverentially ;  and  the  old  conserva 
tive  element,  while  it  did  not  go  out  of  its  way  to  do 
him  honor,  treated  him  with  fair  consideration. 

His  consequence  was  sudden,  but  it  did  not  spoil 
him. 

He  was  precisely  fitted  for  the  position  ;  for  "  emi 
nent  respectability  "  was  on  every  one  of  his  features. 


26 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


His  face  was  eminently  respectable ;  his  figure  was 
eminently  respectable  ;  his  manner  and  his  dress  were 
eminently  so.  With  all  the  rest,  his  habits  were  emi 
nently  respectable.  He  did  not  drink ;  he  did  not  use 
tobacco  in  any  form  ;  his  teeth  were  always  white ; 
his  hands  were  always  clean ;  his  finger-nails  always 
properly  cared  for;  and  a  profane  word  had  never 
been  known  to  escape  his  lips.  No  man  living  knew 
better  the  importance  and  power  of  small  virtues.  By 
carefully  practicing  the  minor  virtues  that  are  seen  of 
men,  one  may  safely  indulge  in  all  the  larger  vices.  A 
patchwork  quilt  made  of  many  pieces  is  a  showy  ar 
ticle. 

The  moment  he  -was  securely  fixed  in  his  position, 
as  the  financial  magnate  of  the  town,  he  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  Sunday  school  of  the  best  —  that  is, 
the  largest  —  church  in  New  Canton.  He  was  a  zeal 
ous  upholder  of  public  and  private  morals  ;  in  brief, 
he  was  precisely  the  kind  of  a  man  that  a  savings- 
bank  could  well  afford  to  pay  a  large  salary  to  sit  in 
the  front  window,  and  inspire  confidence. 

He  always  dressed  in  black.  His  coat  was  of  black 
broadcloth,  his  vest  was  of  black  satin,  both  buttoned 
closely  around  him  ;  and  his  pantaloons  were  black. 
His  shoes,  tied  with  a  black  ribbon,  were  always  clean 
and  well  blacked.  Not  the  shiny  polish  that  his  clerk 
affected ;  but  a  respectable,  dull,  clean,  solvent  polish  ; 
not  enough  to  attract  attention,  but  enough  to  look 
well.  He  was  always  clean  shaved  ;  Mr.  Burt  would 
no  more  have  omitted  shaving  in  the  morning  than  he 
would  have  omitted  prayers.  He  came  to  his  office 
every  morning  as  smug  and  as  clean  as  if  he  had  slept 
in  silver  paper  the  night  before.  He  was  always 


MORE  ABOUT  NEW  CANTON.         27 

ready,  never  surprised,  and  never  off  his  guard. 
Should  his  wife  have  had  four  children  at  once,  it 
would  not  have  astonished  him  —  at  least,  so  far  as 
outward  manifestation  went.  He  would  have  looked 
as  though  he  had  always  expected  it,  —  as  though  it 
was  a  peculiarity  of  Mrs.  B.  to  have  four  children  at  a 
time,  and  as  though  it  was  his  mission  to  be  the  father 
of  that  number.  And  it  is  not  unlikely,  when  the 
astonished  nurse  should  ask  how  under  heaven  she 
was  to  provide  linen  for  the  unexpected  three,  that 
Mr.  B.  should  tell  her  to  look  in  the  upper  drawer  of 
the  bureau,  and  she  would  find  it.  He  was  the  em 
bodiment  of  coolness,  readiness,  and  resource.  When 
he  died,  he  would  require  no  ice  to  keep  him  till  he 
was  ready  to  bury. 

Mr.  Charles  Burt  had  but  one  idea  in  life,  and  that 
was  money.  Born  in  the  most  abje'ct  poverty,  he  had 
an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  value  of  money  ;  and  the 
getting-of-it  was  the  sole  object  of  his  life.  In  every 
village  of  the  United  States,  there  is  one  family  liv 
ing  in  the  outskirts,  in  the  most  miserable  apology 
for  a  house  that  can  be  imagined,  the  boys  of  which 
—  and  there  are  always  a  good  half-dozen  of  them  — 
wear  their  father's  old  hats,  and  invariably  appear 
with  the  flag  of  distress  waving  from  behind.  The 
mother  is  a  hard-worked  slattern,  pale  of  face,  and 
anxious;  the  father,  a  robust  good-for-nothing,  gen 
erally  intelligent,  but  fearfully  averse  to  continuous 
labor  —  that  is,  for  himself,  though  always  ready  to 
do  any  thing  for  any  one  else,  if  it  is  not  to  be  paid 
for.  Always  a  politician,  who  can  ever  be  counted 
upon  to  do  any  thing  for  his  party  ;  and  always  relig- 
ous,  with  an  insatiable  zeal  for  his  church,  —  in  short, 


28  A  PAPER   CITY. 

he  is  good  for  any  thing  except  taking  care  of  himself 
and  those  depending  on  him.  He  generally  has  a 
mild  complaint  of  the  hardness  of  the  times  in  his 
mouth  ;  but,  as  a  rule,  he  sits  down  to  his  scant  meal 
with  cheerfulness,  pondering,  while  eating  it,  how  he 
can  busy  away  the  day  with  the  least  advantage  to 
himself. 

In  this  miserable  family,  there  is  always  one  boy 
who  sees  that  the  sons  of  the  neighbors,  who  are  bet 
ter  off,  are  treated  better  than  he — that  they  have 
more  consideration  with  the  teacher  and  everybody 
else  —  that  their  whippings  are  less  severe  than  those 
that  fall  upon  his  luckless  back ;  and,  very  properly, 
he  ascribes  the  difference  to  money.  This  boy  deter 
mines  to  get  mone}r,  and  he  always  does  it.  He  is  a 
dentist,  writing-master,  singing-teacher,  book-can 
vasser,  or  life-insurance  agent ;  then  a  speculator  in 
various  ways.  Finally,  he  gets  into  politics  or  finan 
ciering  ;  and,  being  as  industrious  as  an  ant,  acute  as 
a  ferret,  having  a  strong  motive  and  but  one  idea,  he 
always  succeeds. 

Mr.  Charles  Burt  was  a  very  fair  sample  of  this 
class. 

Col.  Seth  Peppernell,  the  second  director  of  the 
land  compan}^,  was  precisely  the  opposite  of  Mr.  Burt. 
He  was  a  loud,  exaggerating,  pompous  talker,  who 
bullied  a  man,  if  not  into  agreeing  with  him,  at  least 
into  silence  ;  and  by  this  system  succeeded  in  impress 
ing  a  great  many  people  with  the  idea  that  he  was  a 
strong  character.  If  cornered,  he  could  shake  his 
fist —  a  very  dirty  one  — under  the  nose  of  his  antag 
onist,  and  swear  him  out  of  the  field,  unless  he  should 
happen  to  meet  as  great  a  bully  as  himself,  which  so 
far  he  had  not  done. 


MOKE  ABOUT  NEW  CANTON.          29 

He  had  bullied  his  party  into  keeping  him  in  office 
all  his  life,  beginning  on  some  supposed  services  ren 
dered  the  Government  in  the  Mexican  War,  where  he 
got  his  title  of  colonel.  It  was  ascertained,  before  he 
died,  that  his  "  services  "  were  as  an  assistant  in  a 
sutler's  establishment,  and  that  the  capital  on  which 
he  established  himself  in  New  Canton  came  from  goods 
that  disappeared  one  night  simultaneously  with  Pep- 
pernell.  But,  this  not  being  known,  the  colonel  talked 
of  his  company,  and  was  as  eloquent  in  matters  of 
movements  and  charges  and  fortifications  as  a  second 
"Wellington.  It  was  observed,  however,  when  the  sol 
diers  were  coming  home  from  the  South,  during  the 
last  war,  that  he  preserved  a  discreet  silence  about 
every  thing  military.  When  Col.  Smith,  of  the  14th 
Illinois,  tried  ttf  draw  him  out  as  to  the  difference  be 
tween  Scott's  and  Hardee's  tactics,  Peppernell  dodged 
discussion  by  remarking,  that  systems  had  changed  so 
entirely  that  he  was  not  competent  to  give  an  opinion. 

"  Time  was,"  he  said,  scowling  furiously  at  the  real 
colonel,  whom  he  suspected  of  having  a  design  against 
him,  —  "time  was  when  I  knew  something  of  war; 
but,  with  these  infernal  long-range  guns,  with  which 
you  can  pick  off  your  man  at  a  distance  of  three  miles, 
war  ain't  what  it  used  to  be." 

But  Col.  Peppernell  was  a  very  useful  man  in  the 
land  company,  for  all  this. 

His  manner  was  that  of  a  man  of  millions,  and,"  to 
those  who  did  not  know  him,  was  equal  to  a  sworn 
statement  of  a  fortune  ending  in  six  ciphers. 

Mr.  Thomas  Gardiner,  the  vice-president  of  the  land 
company,  was  a  quiet  banker,  distinguished  chiefly  by 
a  total  unfitness  for  the  business  he  was  in,  manifested 


30  A  PAPER   CITY. 

chiefly  by  absolute  honesty  himself,  and  faith  in  the 
honesty  of  his  fellow-men.  He  was  an  excellent  man, 
of  a  kindly,  trustful  nature,  who  never  could  have  got 
on  in  New  Canton,  only  that  the  majority  of  the  peo 
ple,  before  the  advent  of  the  land  company,  were  as 
honest  as  himself.  He  took  their  money,  and  paid 
small  interest  on  deposits ;  loaned  it  to  the  people,  at 
the  regular  rate  of  eighteen  per  cent,  per  annum  ;  and 
so  waxed  rich.  He  made  no  losses  ;  and  his  gains  were 
considerable.  He  accepted  the  position  of  vice-presi 
dent  of  the  company  ;  for  he  saw  in  it,  not  only  profit 
to  himself,  but  believed  it  would  be  useful  to  his  fel 
low-citizens,  which  to  him  was  quite  as  important  a 
consideration. 

Mr.  Peak  was  a  second-rate  Burt ;  and  'Squire 
Sharp  was  the  regular  country  justice  *of  the  peace. 

Mr.  Burt  was  cast  to  carry  on  the  smooth,  confi 
dence  part  of  the  business,  while  Peppernell  did  the 
loud  and  aggressive.  The  others  were  merely  figure 
heads,  useful  to  refer  to,  and  in  the  indorsement  of 
the  scheme,  which  their  names  gave  it. 

Smart  offices  were  fitted  up,  the  walls  whereof  were 
ornamented  with  highly-colored  maps  and  plans  of 
buildings  ;  and  there,  from  early  morn  till  dewy  eve, 
Burt  and  Peppernell,  with  the  mild  support  of  the 
other  directors,  sold  lots  to  all  comers. 

It  was  as  good  as  a  play  all  day  in  the  office. 

Col.  Peppernell,  in  the  most  aggravatingly  impres 
sive  way,  would  place  a  pair  of  dividers  on  the  map 
of  the  state,  and  triumphantly  show,  that,  for  a  radius 
of  two  hundred  miles,  New  Canton  was  not  only  the 
center,  but  the  exact  center.  And,  when  a  mild- 
mannered  man  from  Boston  ventured  to  remark,  that 


MORE  ABOUT  NEW  CANTON.         31 

the  same  thing  could  be  done  with  any  other  point, — 
and  a  pair  of  dividers,  — the  Colonel  would  explosively 
remark,  "  What  does  a  native  uv  narrer  Noo  England 
know  of  the  expansiveness  of  the  boundless  West  ?  " 
which  crushed  the  Bostonian  so  that  he  bought  a 
block  of  lots  at  $25  a  lot  more  than  the  Colonel  in 
tended  to  ask  for  them. 

If  Col.  Peppernell  believed  in  New  Canton,  what 
shall  we  say  of  the  faith  of  the  respectable  Mr.  Burt? 
It  was  less  demonstrative,  but  more  sublime.  He  held 
that  the  projected  railroads  must  all  be  built,  for  New 
Canton  was,  in  and  of  itself,  the  great  pivotal  fact  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley ;  and  he  opposed  the  idea  of  the 
people  of  New  Canton  aiding  these  enterprises  in  any 
way,  as  the  whole  country,  impelled  by  natural  causes, 
had  to  come  to  New  Canton.  And,  as  it  had  to  come, 
it  would  find  its  own  way,  never  fear,  without  our 
going  down  into  our  own  pockets.  It  was  enough 
for  us  to  do  if  we  permitted  them  to  come.  And 
when  those  roads  are  finished,  sir,  and  Soggy  Run  is 
slack-watered  down  a  hundred  miles  or  so,  a  mere 
nothing  when  the  gigantic  interests  involved  are  con 
sidered,  sir,  New  Canton  will  be  the  point  of  ex 
change,  sir,  for  more  territory  than  any  city  between 
the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi. 

And  then  Mr.  Burt  would  heave  a  long  sigh,  and 
say  it  was  a  source  of  mortification  to  him  that  the 
town  had  not  a  more  appropriate  name. 

"  Canton  in  China,  my  dear  sir,"  he  would  continue, 
in  a  silk-velvet  voice  —  "it  is  true,  is  a  vast  aggrega 
tion  of  human  beings  ;  and,  looking  at  the  matter 
from  the  standpoint  of  population  alone,  the  name  is, 
perhaps,  well  enough.  But,  gracious  heavens!  sir, 


32  A  PAPER   CITY. 

that  is  not  all.  New  Canton  is  to  be  a  great  controll 
ing  city ;  which  old  Canton  is  not.  It  should  have 
been  named  New  London,  sir — expressing  at  once 
population  and  power.  And,  by  the  way,  that  block 
of  lots  on  the  corner  of  22d  Street  and  Magnolia  Ave 
nue,  sir,  will  prove  an  exceedingly  good  investment. 
I  am  so  certain  of  it  that  I  had  reserved  it  for  myself; 
but  there  has  been  so  much  complaint  from  European 
and  Eastern  capitalists,  who  have  invested  here  — 
and  I  may  say  profitably  —  that  the  officers  of  the 
company  were  keeping  all  the  choice  lots  for  them 
selves  —  human  nature  in  its  best  estate,  as  well  as  in 
real  estate  — ha  !  ha  !  — is  selfish,  you  know  — that  at 
the  last  meeting  of  the  board  it  was  decided  that  we 
should  relinquish  all  but  a  fixed  number,  and  I  was 
compelled  —  reluctantly,  I  admit  —  to  give  up  the 
block.  It  is  a  most  desirable  block,  sir,  and  whoever 
gets  it  may  well  be  congratulated  on  his  good  fortune, 
sir." 

And  that  block  was  sold.  Whoever  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  clear-starched  Burt  or  the  explosive  Pep- 
pernell  was  lost. 

There  were  other  people  in  New  Canton  who  will 
figure  in  this  history,  and  who  may  as  well  be  intro 
duced  here. 

Mr.  James  Lewis  was  a  retired  trader,  a  man  of 
capital,  who  made  much  every  year  lending  his  money 
to  his  neighbors  at  eighteen  per  cent,  on  undeniable  se 
curity.  Mr.  Lewis  was  a  spare,  timid,  nervous  man, 
who  had  been  in  his  early  youth  married  by  a  robust, 
resolute  woman  of  will,  who  managed  her  husband 
and  household  without  the  slightest  regard  to  him 
who  should  have  been  its  head.  It  had  been  a  good 


MORE   ABOUT   NEW   CANTON. 


33 


thing  for  Mr.  Lewis  that  he  had  married  such  a 
woman,  for  from  well-to-do  she  had  made  him  rich. 
It  was  she  who  made  the  purchase  of  the  timber  lot 
in  the  north  tier,  and  who  more  than  paid  for  it  in 
ties  when  the  branch  was  building.  It  was  she  who 
prevented  his  taking  stock  in  the  road  ;  but  bought 
choice  lots,  to  sell  at  once,  and  double  the  money  paid. 
She  sat  clown  on  proposals  for  unsatisfactory  loans, 
and  could  extinguish  an  undesirable  applicant,  before 
he  asked,  with  a  look.  She  had  taken  care  to  make 
the  success  of  her  wisdom  so  patent  that  her  lord  and 
master  never  forgot  it.  It  was  indispensable  to  her 
to  control  him ;  and  it  was  a  relief  for  him  to  be  con 
trolled.  Her  will  was  the  law  of  the  house ;  and  its 
nominal  head  would  as  soon  have  put  his  hand  in  the 
fire  as  to  have  questioned  one  of  her  decrees. 

In  a  period  of  relaxation  from  her  graver  duties, 
this  Minerva  condescended  to  add  one  to  the  census  ; 
and  the  world  ought  to  have  been  obliged  to  her,  for 
her  daughter  Mary,  at  the  time  we  write,  had  reached 
the  very  pretty  age  of  eighteen.  She  was  a  lovable 
girl,  rather  intelligent,  very  chatty  and  sweet ;  but 
very  much  under  her  mother's  control  —  as  who  was 
not  around  her? 

Then  there  was  old  Tom  Paddleford,  general  mer 
chant,  who  dealt  in  dry  goods,  groceries,  hardware, 
boots,  shoes,  leather,  millinery,  wall-paper,  drugs, 
medicines,  and  dye-stuffs,  with  "the  highest  price  in 
cash  for  country  produce  ;  "  a  penny-splitting,  flint- 
grinding  old  man,  reputed  rich,  and  who,  with  the 
help  of  Tom  Paddleford,  jr.,  his  only  son,  did  a  very 
large  and  apparently  thriving  business.  They  lived 
in  one  of  the  best  houses  in  the  village ;  and  their 

3 


34  A  PAPER  CITY. 

store,  which  was  the  satisfaction  of  the  old  man  and 
the  pride  of  the  young  one,  was  the  staringest  of  the 
white  frame  buildings  in  the  village. 

Other  people  in  the  village,  who  followed  the  vo 
cations  common  to  such  a  place,  hoped  for  the  realiza 
tion  of  the  hopes  of  Messrs.  Burt  and  Peppernell,  but 
prudently  kept  aloof  till  they  could  see  something 
tangible  in  them.  Much  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  these 
gentlemen,  they  did  not  at  once  bite  at  the  hooks 
thrown  out  to  them  ;  but  waited,  in  the  most  provok 
ing  way,  for  others  to  go  ahead.  The  glowing  pro 
spectuses  and  the  highly-colored  maps  unsettled  them 
somewhat;  and  there  was  more  leaning  against  hitch- 
ing-posts  and  more  talk  of  real  estate  than  was  good 
for  business.  And  there  was  more  discussion  of  the 
possibilities  of  railroads  in  a  village  that  had  been 
very  glad  to  get  the  modest  branch  that  connected  it 
with  the  outside  world ;  but  they  did  not  rush  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  privilege  of  getting  rich  as  fast  as 
Col.  Peppernell  desired,  and  he  cursed  them,  in  his 
way,  for  a  set  of  unappreciative  idiots. 

Mr.  Burt,  however,  was  not  in  such  a  hurry.  "•  Our 
seed  is  sown  —  a  part  of  it ;  but  we  must  wait  for 
our  harvest.  It  will  come,"  he  said,  quietly. 

In  the  meantime,  the  two  papers  of  the  village 
were  filled,  week  after  week,  with  glowing  accounts 
of  improvements  not  only  contemplated,  but  in  such 
forward  state  of  preparation  as  to  make  them  certain. 
And  when  a  transaction  in  real  estate  took  place,  the 
most  was  made  of  it;  and,  under  the  manipulation  of 
Mr.  Burt,  their  work  was  very  well  done,  indeed. 

From  the  "  New  Canton  Sentinel  " 

"  It  is  a  fact  beyond  any  question,  that  parties  from 


MORE  ABOUT  NEW  CANTON.         35 

Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Indianapolis  —  a  combina 
tion  of  capitalists,  representing  millions  —  have  pur 
chased  the  Taylor  Farm,  at  forty  dollars  an  acre,  on 
the  usual  payments.  This  would  have  been  an  enor 
mous  price  for  the  land  a  year  ago,  but  is  now  absurdly 
low.  Mr.  Taylor  is  an  old  man,  who  has  not  kept  up 
in  the  march  of  events,  and,  when  he  was  offered  that 
sum  for  his  land,  innocently  took  it.  It  was  cruel  in 
the  land-sharks  to  take  such  an  advantage  of  an  old 
man ;  but  what  will  not  such  men  do,  in  their  eager 
ness  for  money?  Our  townsman,  Mr.  Chas.  Burt, 
says  the  land  to-day  is  not  worth  less  than  $200  per 
acre,  and  he  has  kindly  undertaken  to  break  the  sale, 
and  restore  to  Mr.  Taylor  and  his  grandchildren  their 
inheritance.  He  looks  upon  the  transaction  as  but 
little  better  than  a  fraud." 

From  the  "Forum  of  the  People." 

"  The  land  company  has  a  force  of  men  grading 
streets  and  planting  trees  on  the  old  Mix  Place,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  town.  Mr.  Burt  tells  us  that  lots  in 
that  addition  are  selling  very  rapidly  at  from  $200  to 
$300.  The  future  of  New  Canton  is  roseate." 

In  answers  to  correspondents  :  — 

"  L.  M.  —  You  can  do  no  better  with  your  means 
than  to  invest  in  New  Canton  real  estate.  Property 
that  a  year  ago  was  dear  at  $10  an  acre  is  now  worth 
a  thousand.  The  land  company  is  liberal ;  its  object 
being  more  to  build  up  the  city  than  to  make  imme 
diate  profits.  Come  and  see  for  yourself." 


36  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   GARDINER   FAMILY  AND   SOME   OTHERS. 


GARDINER/'  as  he  was  respectfully 
styled  in  country  fashion,  being  a  well-pre 
served  man  over  fifty,  had  one  son,  who  was  "  Jim  " 
Gardiner  to  every  man,  woman,  and  urchin  ;  and,  as 
only  sons  of  bankers  ought  to  be,  was  held  the  most 
desirable  young  man  in  the  place.  Like  most  desir 
able  young  men  the  world  over,  this  popularity  was 
owing  to  a  figure  near  six  feet  high  and  straight  as  an 
Indian's  ;  frank,  pleasant  face  ;  handsome  side-whisk 
ers  ;  and  dark  hair,  of  that  thick  wave  which  women 
admire  on  any  sort  of  a  man.  For  the  rest,  he  was 
decently  honest,  sensitive  on  many  points  as  a  woman, 
and  brave  as  a  lion,  when  his  sympathies  or  what  he 
called  his  principles  were  enlisted  —  or  set  as  a  bulldog 
in  his  own  way,  whichever  you  chose  to  call  it.  In 
short,  he  had  the  usual  virtues  in  the  gristle  common 
to  young  men. 

Unfortunately,  this  paragon  of  all  the  feminine  eyes 
of  the  village  was  the  most  indolent  mortal  that  ever 
breathed. 

He  had  studied  law,  and  was  in  practice  —  that  is 
to  say,  would  have  been  if  he  had  condescended  to  prac 
tice.  He  had  an  office,  which  was  a  convenient  place  to 


THE   GARDINER    FAMILY  AND   OTHERS.  37 

read  novels,  write  verses,  and  smoke  a  huge  meer 
schaum  ;  and  as  good  as  any  could  have  to  keep 
his  double-barreled  fowling-piece,  his  ammunition 
and  pointer.  His  fishing-tackle  ornamented  the 
space  over  the  bookcase  which  contained  his  "  library," 
and  Ponto  found  under  his  desk  the  very  best  place 
to  sleep  undisturbed. 

His  father  believed  in  him,  was  very  fond  of  him, 
and,  being  wealthy,  for  New  Canton,  gave  him  a  lib 
eral  allowance  ;  and  life,  with  him,  was  a  lazy,  de 
lightful  pastime,  with  no  trouble  of  his  own  and  just 
enough  of  other  people's  in  it  to  keep  him  from  rust 
ing  entirely. 

He  was  as  honest  as  the  day  is  long  —  th.at  is,  he 
was  as  honest  after  business  hours  as  he  was  during 
their  continuance.  He  was  afflicted  with  two  demons', 
that  prevented  him  from  being  very  useful  —  one,  his 
intolerable  indolence  ;  the  other,  a  consuming  passion 
for  Mary  Lewis  ;  and  the  two  kept  him  pretty  effec 
tually  from  work  of  any  kind.  When  he  was  not 
lounging  and  smoking  his  meerschaum,  or  out  gun 
ning  or  fishing,  he  was  certain  to  be  with  the  girl ; 
and,  between  the  two,  he  managed,  with  great  inge 
nuity,  to  get  nothing  done.  The  only  thing  he  did 
show  any  perseverance  in  was  in  persuading  the  pretty 
Mary  that  it  would  be  greatly  to  her  advantage  to 
marry  him.  Had  he  displayed  the  same  energy  in 
any  other  pursuit,  he  would  have  been  a  richer  man 
than  his  father. 

But  who  could  blame  him  ?  The  girl  with  whom 
this  lazy  young  Apollo  was  in  love  was  so  exceedingly 
pretty!  She  was  one  of  those  full-figured,  plump, 
rosy  girls,  with  a  clear  red  and  white  complexion,  with 


38  A   PAPER   CITY. 

great  masses  of  fair  brown  hair,  and  with  bright,  soft, 
deep  blue  eyes  —  a  girl  made  to  be  petted  and  waited 
on  from  church,  and  talked  to  in  moonlight,  and  have 
presents  of  velvet  albums  and  sets  of  jewelry  made  to 
her  —  the  sugar  candy  of  life,  to  be  nibbled  and  tasted, 
and  duly  thanked  for.  She  looked  up  to  Jim  Gardiner 
as  all  that  was  good  and  great  in  humanity,  and  loved 
him  with  all  the  intensity  a  little,  amiable,  confiding  soul 
was  capable  of ;  and  he  loved  her  in  the  same  way :  and 
between  them  there  was  a  great  deal  of  time  wasted 
that  their  parents  thought  —  forgetting  their  younger 
days —  might  have  been  better  employed. 

He  was  coming  home  from  the  country  college, 
where  he  graduated,  the  morning  he  met  Mary  Lewis 
on  the  cars,  and  fell  in  love  with  her.  He  was  feeling 
every  inch  of  his  importance,  from  his  fresh  gray  suit 
and  bit  of  side-whisker  to  the  diploma  in  his  pocket, 
which  he  felt,  through  layers  of  clothing,  in  every 
fiber  of  his  body.  His  first  business  was  to  take  stock 
of  all  the  pretty  girls  in  the  car,  the  only  one  of  whom 
not  positively  uninteresting  sat  right  before  him  in 
such  a  position  that  he  could  not  get  sight  of  her  face. 
This  he  was  anxious  to  do  ;  for  the  back  of  her  head 
offered  such  a  charming  study  he  longed  to  know  if 
the  face  corresponded  with  it.  Like  all  mannish 
young  men,  a  girl  could  not  be  too  soft  and  refined  to 
please  his  fancy  ;  and  this  one  was  delicacy  itself. 
Neck  and  head  were  drawn  with  exquisite  outline,  the 
skin  was  fine,  the  ear  was  very  pretty  and  thin,  with 
a  rose-blush ;  and  there  was  something  gentle  in  the 
very  sweep  of  the  hair,  which,  dressed  high,  showed 
a  unique  and  bewitching  charm  in  the  finish  of  the 
neck-hair,  which  grew  in  a  curl  at  the  roots,  shading 


THE   GARDINER   FAMILY   AND   OTHERS.  39 

off  into   soft   brushmarks,  which    conveyed   I   don't 
know  what   of  susceptibility  and  refinement   in  the 
character  that  wore  it.      The  turn  of  the  neck  had 
something  simple  and   caressing   in   it  —  that  white, 
warm,  girlish  neck,  which,  with  its  silky  whirls  of  hair, 
shaded  like  India-ink  drawing,  made  the  ardent  imagi 
nation  behind  her  long  to  bend  and  scrutinize  it  like  a 
work  of  art.      The  face  might  prove  disenchanting ; 
and  James  waited  anxiously  to  see  it.      It  might  not 
have  suited  a  more  practiced  eye,  which  demanded 
romance  and  spirit  to  redeem  it  from  tameness ;  but 
it  was  certainly  a  pretty  girl's  face,  with  a  fresh,  fine 
complexion,  and  rather  small,  dark  blue  eyes,  which 
could  droop  pensively  and  irresistibly,  but  which,  be 
ing  well  indulged,  laughed  a  great  deal  of  the  time. 
All  the  pretty  girl's  attire,  even  to  her  parcels  and 
satchel,  were  stylish,  neat,  and  trim,  so  that  the  young 
man,  who  regarded  himself  as  fastidious,  was  seized 
with  the  instant  idea,  that  this  was  the  very  woman 
he  was  looking  out  for  to  make  him  happy  or  miser 
able.      He  devoted  himself  to  getting  views  of  her 
from  every  position,  till  the  face,  which  had  puzzled 
him  with  a  fleeting  likeness,  suddenly  flashed  upon 
him  as  that  of  his  old  schoolmate,  Mary  Lewis,  whom 
he  left  in  long  braids,  and  had  not  seen  for  four  years. 
To  claim  acquaintance,  in  his  most  impressive  man 
ner,  was  the  work  of  but  few  minutes  ;  and  the  knowl 
edge  of  so  fair  a  neighbor  made  New  Canton  much 
more  tolerable  as  a  place  of  residence  that  he  would 
otherwise  have  found  it. 

He  had  gone  to  the  town  school  with  Mary  Lewis 
when  she  was  a  delicate,  waspish  little  girl ;  but  time 
had  improved  them  both  out  of  knowledge,  and  so 


40  A  PAPER   CITY. 

when  his  father  suggested  a  call  on  the  Lewises, — 
his  usual  Sunday  evening  dissipation,  —  he  obeyed 
with  filial  readiness.  Miss  Lewis  was  at  evening 
church;  but  she  got  home  before  the  visitors  left, 
coming  in  in  a  charming  summer  bonnet,  full  of  wild 
roses,  which,  as  it  was  very  becoming,  she  forgot  to 
take  off  while  the  two  gentlemen  stayed.  To  show 
old  acquaintances  attention,  she  went  out  in  the 
moonlight  to  pick  some  roses  for  them,  in  which 
quest  James  accompanied  her,  while  Mr.  Gardiner 
prudently  stayed  out  of  the  dew,  on  the  porch, 
finishing  his  topic  with  Mr.  Lewis.  The  next  night 
Mr.  James's  mother  sent  him  over  on  an  errand  to 
Mrs.  Lewis  ;  and  he  stayed  long  enough  to  forget 
all  about  it.  The  next  afternoon  he  came  to  see 
about  something  forgotten  the  evening  before,  just 
for  a  minute  —  of  an  hour  and  a  half.  The  next  day 
he  did  not  go  to  the  Lewises,  but  saw  Mary  at  a 
friend's  house;  and,  the  next  evening,  they  met,  by 
appointment,  with  a  musical  friend ;  and  he  saw  her 
home.  He  was  very  kind  and  useful  to  his  mamma 
in  those  days,  running  errands  to  Mrs.  Lewis's,  till  she 
laughingly  declared  she  could  invent  no  more  excuses 
for  him,  and  he  must  go  on  his  own  responsibility. 

Three  weeks  of  this  was  enough  to  bring  the 
young  folks  to  an  excellent  understanding  ;  and  for 
two  years  this  happy  state  of  things  had  not  been  al 
lowed  to  languish.  Miss  Lewis  had  plenty  of  leisure, 
a  pretty  taste  in  dress,  slim  white  hands,  that  showed 
to  advantage  on  wool-work,  and  a  graceful  slipper ; 
and,  as  she  presented  herself  to  her  lover  in  pictur 
esque  surprises  of  toilet,  with  a  manner  that  was  a 
happy  mixture  of  affection  and  coquetry,  he  was  fond 


THE   GARDINER   FAMILY  AND   OTHERS.  41 

enough  to  believe  her  seriously  the  only  woman  in  the 
world  worth  knowing. 

The  elder  Gardiner  having  furnished  the  money  and 
credit  for  the  land  company,  James  was,  of  course, 
the  attorney  for  that  corporation.  He  managed  to 
dodge  the  business  connected  with  it  with  a  skill  born 
of  long  practice.  Every  day  the  old  gentleman  and 
Peppernell  would  come  into  his  office,  and  find  it 
vacant,  with  a  notice  posted  on  the  book-case  :  "  Back 
in  a  few  minutes." 

Peppernell  would  take  up  the  young  man's  pipe, 
and  finding  it  cold,  would  remark :  "  The  rascal 
has  been  gone  an  hour.  Where  can  we  git  holt  of 
him?  The  papers  must  be  drawn  up  immejit." 

His  father  would  sigh :  — 

"  There  isn't  the  slightest  use  hunting  him.  He's 
either  gone  fishing  or  off  with  that  Lewis  girl.  He 
ain't  gone  fishing,  for  there  is  his  tackle  ;  and  he  ain't 
gone  hunting,  for  his  shot-gun  is  on  the  hooks.  He's 
with  the  girl." 

And  then  Peppernell  would  go  to  Jim's  library,  and, 
taking  from  thence  an  ingeniously  constructed  book 
—  made  of  glass,  covered  with  leather  nearly  enough 
like  a  law-book  to  deceive  a  clergyman,  not  a  Bap 
tist,  with  "  Elements  of  American  Law  "  in  nice  let 
ters  on  the  back  — would  take  out  the  cork,  and  pour 
out  a  three-fingered  drink,  commenting  on  the  degen 
eracy  of  the  coming  generation. 

Picking  up  a  loose  scrap  of  paper  from  his  desk: 
"  Look  at  this  !  This  is  what  your  son  idles  away 
his  time  afc,  instid  uv  study  in'  the  law  uv  land  con 
tracts,  or  dispootid  hoss  warrantees,  and  other  useful 
knollege  for  a  lawyer.  Lissen  :  — 


42  A  PAPER   CITY. 

*  WATTS   ADAPTED   TO  THE  REQUIREMENTS   OF  MR.    CHAS.    BURT. 

"  '  Blest  be  the  man  whose  sole  intent 

Is  righteously  to  live. 
A  pious  heart  and  twelve  per  cent. 
Makes  all  that  life  can  give.' 

"  The  idee  uv  abusin'  our  secretary  and  treasurer 
this  way  !  It's  shameful !  He's  got  the  interest  too 
low  by  six  per  cent !  A  pretty  man  of  business !  " 

"  James  never  did  like  Mr.  Burt,"  the  old  gentle 
man  would  sigh;  "  but  there  is  no  use  of  waiting  for 
him  here." 

"  When  I  was  a  young  man  this  kind  uv  a  thing 
wouldn't  hev  done  at  all.  I  had  to  work,  I  did. 
There  wan't  no  meershams  for  me  to  smoke  and  no 
gals  for  me  to  idle  my  time  away  onto.  Ef  I  hedn't 
workt  ez  I  did,  and  improoved  w'at  opportunities  I 
hed,  I  never  wood  hev  bin  w'at  I  am.  Hevens  !  Ef 
I'd  only  hed  Jim  Gardiner's  opportoonities,  I  mite  hev 
bin  —  " 

And  Peppernell,  who  had  never  clone  a  day's  work 
in  his  life,  waved  his  hand  impressively,  leaving  his 
auditor  to  imagine  that,  had  he  had  opportunities, 
there  was  no  pitch  of  earthly  consequence  to  which 
he  might  not  have  reasonably  aspired. 

At  the  very  time  this  discussion  was  taking  place 
in  Jim's  office,  that  worthy  was  walking  slowly  in  the 
grove  in  the  outskirts  of  New  Canton,  with  a  young 
lady.  They  were  walking  very  close  together  —  with 
that  peculiar  closeness,  that  half-clinging  manner, 
which  betokened  they  had  walked  together  a  great 
deal. 

Mary  Lewis  had  put  on  a  very  becoming  gown  and 
bewitching  hat,  with  blue  ribbons,  and  walked  in 


~THE   GARDINER  FAMILY   AND   OTHERS.  43 

front  of  his  office,  where  he  could  not  but  see  her, 
knowing  very  well  that  he  would  follow  her  as  soon 
as  he  could  spring  to  his  feet  and  throw  on  street-coat 
and  hat.  The  little  minx  liked  to  do  this.  It  pleased 
her  to  feel  that  she  could  control  the  movements  of  a 
strong  fellow  like  Jim  Gardiner.  All  women  like 
such  things,  and  the  weaker  they  are  the  better  they 
like  them. 

"  When  are  we  going  to  have  something  better  than 
this  seeing  you  by  snatches,  Mary,"  asked  the  young 
man,  with  a  pleased  expression  on  his  countenance. 

"  Nonsense,  Jim,"  was  her  reply.  "  You  have  asked 
me  that  question  once  a  week  for  two  years.  I  can't 
tell  you.  Possibly  never.  I  may  change  my  mind  — 
there  are  a  great  many  young  men  in  New  Canton. 
For  instance,  there  is  Sam  Adams." 

"A  pleasant  husband  he'd  make  for  you.  He 
doesn't  know  as  much  as  the  mule  he  drives,  and  is 
meaner  than  the  whisky  he  drinks.  I'm  not  afraid 
of  him  ?  " 

"  JVell,  what  do  you  say  of  Tom  Paddleford  ?  " 
"  He's  the  beastliest  little  beast  in  New  Canton, 
and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal.  He's  bow-legged, 
sandy-haired,  spiteful.  If  I  didn't  like  you,  &and 
wanted  to  see  you  miserable  all  your  life,  I  should 
work  all  sorts  of  ways  to  have  you  take  Tom  Paddle- 
ford.  But  you'd  better  make  up  your  mind  very  soon. 
I  feel  in  danger  myself.  Sarah  Martin  has  been  mak 
ing  eyes  at  me." 

"Sarah  Martin?  Well!"  The  girl  had  a  very 
sweet  laugh.  "  She  isn't  old  enough  for  you.  She's 
thirty,  if  she's  a  day.  She  don't  know  which  side 
of  her  bonnet's  front  or  back,  and  she's  as  good-look- 


44  A  PAPER   CITY. 

ing  as  she  is  bright.  I  am  not  afraid  of  poor,  dear 
Sarah." 

"  Well,  how  about  Nellie  Davis  ?  I  can  have  her 
for  the  asking." 

"  So  can  anybody.  She's  been  in  that  state  for 
these  ten  years.  She  dresses  like  a  fright,  and  she 
overruns  her  shoes.  Besides,  she  writes  poetry  for 
the  '  Sentinel/  I'm  troubled  about  Nellie." 

"  I  see,  I'm  as  badly  off  for  some  one  to  play  off 
against  you  as  you  are  for  some  one  to  play  off  against 
me.  Let's  quit  this  kind  of  talk,  and  come  to  business. 
I  want  the  day  fixed,  and  have  it  over.  We  have 
been  engaged  three  years ;  and  if  we  are  ever  to  be 
married  we  might  as  well  have  the  good  of  it  at  once." 

"  I'll  think  it  over  Jim,  and  give  you  an  answer — " 

"  To-morrow?" 

"  No  —  sometime." 

By  this  time  the  young  people  were  at  the  gate  of 
the  Lewis  mansion,  and  James  bethought  himself  that 
he  had  been  absent  from  his  office  two  hours,  and  left 
her.  He  knew  there  was  business  waiting,  but. that 
was  not  what  troubled  him.  This  was  just  about  the 
time  Dr.  Perkins  dropped  in  to  play  chess  with  him ; 
and  James  had  spent  half  the  night  studying  a  game 
that  he  was  perfectly  sure  would  vanquish  him  — 
which  had  been  a  problem  up  to  this  time. 

James  went  to  his  office  ;  and  Mary  went  to  her 
room,  not  in  quite  so  pleasant  a  frame  of  mind  as  she 
parted  from  him.  The  allusion  James  had  made  to 
Tom  Paddleford  worried  her.  His  description  she 
knew  was  entirely  correct,  and  there  her  trouble  lay. 

Mrs.  Lewis  had  always  favored  the  suit  of  James 
Gardiner.  As  she  favored  it,  there  was  no  necessity 


THE  GAKDINER   FAMILY  AND   OTHERS.  45 

for  any  other  parental  interference.  The  elder  Gardi 
ner  had  amassed  a  large  fortune,  for  New  Canton, 
which  James  would  inherit,  being  an  only  child  ;  and, 
besides  that,  he  was  undeniably  a  young  man  of  parts. 
True,  he  was  addicted  to  pipes  and  novels,  chess,  and 
hunting  and  fishing,  and  had  a  wonderful  aversion  to 
labor  ;  but  time,  she  believed,  would  cure  that. 

He  would  some  time  go  into  politics,  and,  at  least, 
attain  the  legitimate  object  of  every  lawyer's  ambition 
—  a  judgeship.  Should  he  go  regularly  into  general 
politics,  what  could  stand  in  the  way  of  his  going  to 
Congress,  and  finally  attaining  the  sublime  position  of 
governor  of  the  state?  He  was  a  fine  speaker  and 
very  popular.  While  Mrs.  Lewis  would  have  pre 
ferred  that  he  would  pay  more  attention  to  things 
material  at  the  present  time,  still  there  was  enough 
"  out-come  "  to  him,  as  she  expressed  it,  to  make  him 
a  very  desirable  son-in-law.  She  felt  that  she  could 
ornament  the  Washington  establishment  of  a  con 
gressional  son-in-law  with  credit ;  for  she  was  an  ex 
ceedingly  well-preserved  woman,  by  no  means  ill- 
looking,  and  felt  herself  a  match  for  that  sphere  or 
any  other. 

But,  of  late,  she  had,  in  the  most  unaccountable 
manner,  changed  her  tone.  She  had  given  Mary  very 
broad  hints  that  she  would  be  better  pleased  if  the 
engagement  with  Gardiner  were  broken  off.  What 
the  real  reason  was  for  this  sudden  change,  Mary 
could  not  divine  ;  and,  when  she  insisted  upon  know 
ing  the  cause,  the  answer  was  any  thing  but  satisfac 
tory.  Indeed,  it  was  a  long  time  before  she  got  any 
reason  at  all,  Mrs.  Lewis  being  one  of  those  infalli 
ble  persons  who  cannot  understand  how  any  one  can 


46  A  PAPER   CITY. 

differ  with  them,  and  wonder  why  a  reason  is  ever 
asked  of  them.  She  did  finally  condescend  to  give 
reasons  ;  and,  once  started,  they  poured  out  in  a  flood. 
She  found  fault  with  his  habits.  She  objected  to  his 
fowling-piece,  to  his  fishing-tackle,  to  his  chess,  to  his 
novel-reading,  and  to  pretty  much  every  thing  about 
him.  He  had -no  energy  ;  and,  without  energy,  what 
was  'the  use  of  his  talent  ?  After  all,  was  he  talented  ? 
What  had  he  ever  done  to  prove  it  ?  Had  he  shown 
any  aptitude  for  the  practice  ?  Had  he  ever  distin 
guished  himself  on  the  stump  ?  How  many  cases  had 
he  allowed  to  go  by  default,  because  of  neglect  ?  She 
had  a  small  opinion  of  a  man  who  could  do  nothing 
for  himself,  but  who  depended  on  his  father. 

"  But,  ma,  you  knew  all  about  that  when  you  were 
urging  me  upon  him  before.  He  hasn't  changed  for 
the  worse  since  we  were  first  intimate,"  replied  the 
pretty  girl. 

"Urged!  Mary?  Urged!  What  do  you  mean? 
Thank  Heaven,  the  Lewises  never  had  occasion  to  urge 
any  one.  Urge,  indeed!  Mary,  I  was  at  one  time 
willing  the  young  man  should  pay  you  attention,  for  I 
hoped  he  would  reform.  I  hoped  he  would  settle 
down,  and  acquire  those  habits  without  which  no  man 
has  any  right  to  think  of  taking  a  wife." 

"  But,  ma,  he  can  reform  yet.  He  is  young,  and 
has  a  long  life  before  him." 

"  Never,  Mary,  never.  '  Just  as  the  twig  is  bent, 
the  tree's  inclined.'  He  was  bent,  Mary,  when  he  was 
a  twig  ;  and  the  tree  has  the  wrong  inclination.  He 
is  no  man  for  you." 

All  this  would  have  had  no  effect  beyond  annoy 
ance  upon  the  girl,  had  she  been  satisfied  that  there 


THE   GARDINER   FAMILY   AND   OTHERS.  47 

was  nothing  in  it  beyond  a  desire  to  keep  her  from 
Gardiner.  If  she  could  be  let  alone,  she  knew  that 
time  would  conquer  for  her. 

What  alarmed  the  girl  most  was  the  frequent  men 
tion  of  Tom  Paddleford,  in  contrast  with  the  disfav 
ored  Gardiner.  Whenever  Mrs.  Lewis  got  to  dis 
praising  Gardiner  she  invariably  tagged  in  Paddleford 
as  a  possessor  of  all  the  virtues  that  poor  Jim  lacked. 

It  was  this  that  disquieted  poor  Mary  when  the 
name  of  Paddleford  came  to  her  mind. 

That  she  should  object  to  Tom  Paddleford  was  no 
wonder ;  for  he  was  not  precisely  the  manner  of  man 
to  fill  a  woman's  fancy.  He  was  five  feet  six  inches 
high,  with  a  long  body  and  short  legs,  answering  all 
the  purposes  of  legs  except  being  ornamental  —  which 
was  not  necessary,  for  his  body  would  have  been  a 
drawback  to  a  good  pair  of  legs.  His  head  and  feet 
took  good  care  to  be  no  better  than  the  rest.  When 
his  feet  were  constructed,  Nature  had  a  six-foot  man 
in  mind,  but  had  evidently  changed  in  favor  of  a 
smaller  pattern,  and  forgot  to  alter  the  feet.  The 
legs  were  not  only  short,  but  bowed,  which  was  a  per 
petual  source  of  sorrow.  He  was  the  worry  of  the 
tailors  of  New  Canton,  always  wanting  pantaloons  cat 
to  appear  straight ;  and  he  badgered  them  on  this  point 
almost  to  madness.  Above  those  legs  was  a  long 
body,  on  that  a  lean  neck,  and  on  that  one  of  the 
meanest  faces  ever  seen  without  a  rope. 

The  description  of  the  man  begins  at  the  feet,  be 
cause  it  is  always  well  to  begin  with  the  best  of  a 
subject. 

He  had  a  low  forehead,  a  peaked  nose,  a  thin,  sen 
sual,  mouth,  cunning  eyes,  of  no  color,  and  stubborn 


48  A  PAPER  CITY. 

hair,  which  only  the  wildest  extravagance  in  hair-oil 
could  keep  in  shape  at  all.  A  bristling  moustache 
and  a  goatee  were  points  in  his  appearance  on  which 
he  felt  the  utmost  complaisance.  The  beard  was  not 
handsome ;  but  it  was  tolerable,  for  it  hid  a  part  of 
his  face. 

He  had  the  appearance  of  a  rat.  His  jaws,  pro 
jecting  like  the  point  of  a  triangle,  were  armed  with 
sharp-pointed  teeth;  and  the  struggling  moustache,  of 
which  he  was  so  proud,  long,  wiry  and  thin  on  the 
skin,  helped  the  likeness. 

His  mind  fitted  his  body.  He  was  cruel  to  smaller 
vermin,  timid  in  the  presence  of  stronger  beings,  and 
could  only  be  made  to  fight  when  crowded  into  a 
corner.  He  was  stingy  even  in  his  vices ;  and,  if  a 
depraved  appetite  drove  him  to  indulgence,  his  re 
morse  at  the  expense  more  than  balanced  his  pleasure. 
He  once  went  to  Chicago,  and  dissipated  to  the  ex 
tent  of  a  hundred  dollars.  When  he  got  back  to  New 
Canton  remorse  set  in  — not  for  the  dissipation,  but 
for  its  cost.  It  gnawed  at  his  vitals  and  tugged  at  his 
heart-strings.  When  he  got  home  he  deliberately 
charged  that  $100  to  the  accounts  of  a  score  of  care 
less  customers,  who  never  examined  the  items  in  their 
bills,  and  spitefully  added  $25  to  pay  for  lost  time. 
That  would  have  quieted  the  pangs  of  an  ordinarily 
mean  man,  but  it  did  not  assuage  his  ;  for  it  vexed 
him  to  think  that  he  might  have  charged  the  money 
all  the  same  without  having  spent  it  at  all. 

He  generally  succeeded  in  getting  what  he  wanted, 
but  never  by  advancing  squarely  upon  his  desires. 
Rat-like,  he  would  rather  get  at  a  cheese  by  crawling 
through  a  drain  than  walk  straight  to  it ;  and,  -rat- 


THE   GARDINER  FAMILY  AND   OTHERS.  49 

like,  he  always  ate  his  plunder  from  the  under  side, 
that  no  other  might  suspect  his  presence. 

He  was  the  dandy  of  the  village.  His  tall  hats 
were  always  gloss}',  his  coats  fitted  him  like  the  paper 
on  the  wall,  his  boots  were  painfully  close  to  his  feet, 
and  in  pantaloons  he  indulged  in  the  wildest  extrava 
gance.  While  the  cloth  was  new,  and  before  it  got 
broken  to  his  unfortunate  legs,  they  looked  straight ; 
consequently  he  had  new  pantaloons  very  often,  where 
at  his  papa,  who  was  quite  as  penurious,  would  growl 
vehemently,  to  which  the  son  would  respond:  — 

"  New  pants  make  my  legs  look  straight,  and  I  will 
have  'em.  Why  didn't  you  have  my  legs  straightened 
when  I  was  a  baby,  and  save  me  all  this  expense  ?  " 

"  I  thought  of  it,  my  son,"  sighed  the  old  man ; 
"  but  then,  you  see,  it  would  have  cost  $25.  S'pos'n' 
you'd  'a'  died  in  infancy,  it  would  have  been  wasted." 

Tom  Paddleford  wanted  to  marry  Mary  Lewis.  He 
admired  the  girl ;  he  was  desperately  in  love  with  the 
wealth  of  her  father.  And  so,  without  a  doubt  of 
his  success,  he  cast  his  little  wicked  eyes  upon  the 
lady.  He  made  up  his  mind  —  not  a  very  extensive 
operation  —  to  marry  her.  Was  not  his  father  one  of 
the  richest,  if  not  the  richest,  man  in  New  Canton  ? 
In  his  estimation  the  mere  matter  of  money  settled 
the  whole  question.  Barring  his  legs,  which  even  his 
conceit  could  not  straighten,  he  felt  satisfied  that  he 
was  rather  a  handsome  young  man,  a  delusion  nursed 
by  the  score  of  girls  in  New  Canton  who,  born  and 
reared  to  the  idea  that  their  first  business  in  life  was 
to  marry,  would  have  gladly  taken  him  had  he  been 
ten  times  the  monkey  he  was.  If  they  could  hang 
upon  and  adjnire  him,  he  could  see  no  reason  why  any 
woman  should  not.  (4) 


50  A  PAPER   CITY. 

Confident  that  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  ask,  he  did 
ask,  one  day,  and  the  girl  laughed  in  his  face. 

Now  Mary  Lewis  was  not  a  cruel  girl  or  a  light  one  ; 
and  she  felt,  what  every  girl  ought  to  feel,  that,  no 
matter  how  absurd  it  may  be,  any  man's  feeling  de 
serves,  at  least,  respect.  But  there  was  something  so 
absurd  in  Tom  Paddleford's  proposing  to  marry  her, 
that  she  could  not  but  laugh.  Then,  repenting  her 
levity,  she  told  him  kindly  that  it  was  impossible. 

Tom  tried  to  leave  her  under  the  impression  that  it 

was  a  matter  of  no  consequence  ;  but  his  effort  was  a 

failure.     He  looked  at  her  out  of  his  wicked   little 

eyes  in  a  way  that  she  remembered  many  a  year. 

'  Jim  Gardiner  knew  that  Tom  had  proposed  to  her, 

and  that  she  had  rejected  him ;  and  many  a  laugh  had 

they  had  over  the  matter.     He  had  imitated  Tom  s 

manner  and  gone  through  the  scene  of  his  proposing 

to  her  a  hundred  times,  in  a  most   deliciously  natural 

way,  which  amused  them  very  much;  but  he  did  not 

know  that  Tom  was  more  determined  upon  marrying 

her  than  ever.     Neither  did  he  know  that  Tom  Pad- 

dleford  had  two  mighty  agencies  working  for  him ; 

namely,  circumstances   and   Mrs.   Lewis,  or,  rather, 

Mrs.  Lewis  impelled  by  circumstances. 


A  CHANGE  OF  HEART.  51 


CHAPTER    IV. 

A   CHANGE   OF  HEART. 

IT  was  not  altogether  well  with  the  Gardiners.  The 
New  York  correspondents  of  the  banker  of  New 
Canton  were  the  eminent  firm  of  Slap,  Dash,  &  Co. ; 
and  one  day  he  had  a  balance  in  their  hands  of  $20,- 
000,  which  was  nearly  as  much  money  as  he  was 
worth,  though  no  one  outside  knew  the  fact. 

Slap,  Dash,  &  Co.  were  worth  millions;  but  they 
wanted  twice  as  much.  Slap  wanted  a  yacht.  Dash 
had  his  eagle  eye  fixed  upon  a  seat  in  the  Senate ; 
and  it  was  likely  to  remain  fixed  there,  without  the 
help  of  a  million  or  two  of  money.  "  Co.,"  whoever 
he  was,  wanted  a  variety  of  things  that  he  did  not 
have.  To  get  their  wishes,  they  made  a  bold  stroke. 
They  proposed  first  to  "  corner  "  all  the  cotton  in  the 
South,  and,  next,  to  control  all  the  railroads  of  the 
country,  judging  correctly,  that,  if  they  had  the  roads, 
they  could  make  them  pay  what  they  wanted  ;  and,  if 
they  had  all  the  cotton,  they  could  levy  tribute  on 
every  man  who  wore  a  shirt. 

But  this  is  a  large  country;  and  there  are  many 
Slaps,  Dashes,  &  Cos.,  equally  acute,  and  with  as 
much  money  in  their  pockets.  So  Slap,  Dash,  &  Co., 
after  a  most  determined  fight,  went  down  ;  and,  when 


52  A   PAPER   CITY. 

their  affairs  were  settled,  it  was  found  that  they  could 
riot  pay  a  cent  on  the  dollar.  Mrs.  Slap  was  worth  a 
million  or  two  in  her  own  right.  Mrs.  Dash  consoled 
herself,  after  her  husband's  mortifying  failure,  with  a 
villa  at  Newport  and  a  small  annual  income  of  $40,- 
000  ;  and  Mrs.  "  Co.'s  "  father,  sternly  reprehending 
the  spirit  of  speculation  which  must  always  result  in 
such  disasters,  with  equal  sternness  refused  to  give  up 
a  dime  of  the  half-million  young  "  Co."  had  made 
over  to  him  a  month  before  the  failure.  The  three 
went  to  Europe  to  avoid  the  harrowing  sight  of  their 
distressed  creditors. 

Poor  Gardiner  lost  his  $20,000,  as  did  a  great  many 
Gardiners  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  all  of 
whom  cursed  Slap,  Dash,  &  Co.  with  a  fervency  pro 
portioned  to  the  amount  of  money  they  had  in  the 
firm.  But  cursing  didn't  bring  any  of  the  money  out 
of  the  coffers  of  the  firm  ;  nor,  so  far  as  heard  from, 
make  its  members  sleep  any  less  soundly. 

The  failure  worried  Gardiner ;  for,  while  he  did  not 
know  himself  exactly  how  he  stood  with  the  world, 
he  feared  he  was  in  no  condition  to  weather  such  a 
loss,  if  his  depositors  knew  of  it.  But,  thank  Heaven  ! 
there  was  his  interest  in  the  land  company,  enough  to 
make  him  independent,  if  all  the  rest  should  go.  It 
comforted  him  to  feel  its  affairs  were  in  so  good  a 
shape.  Lots  were  not  selling  rapidly  ;  but  Burt  and 
Peppernell  assured  him  that  the  railroads  would 
surely  be  built ;  and  he  could  see  no  reason  why  the 
speculation  should  not  come  out  right,  and  leave  him 
as  well  off  as  need  be. 

He  went  to   Chicago  one  day  with  Peppernell,  the 
object  of  the  trip  being  to  induce  Chicago  capitalists  to 


A   CHANGE   OF   HEART.  53 

take  an  interest  in  a  new  railroad  project  of  Pepper- 
nell's  devising,  and  came  home  comforted. 

To  see  Peppernell  in  his  room  at  the  Grand  Pacific, 
with  Chicago  men,  was  as  good  as  a  play.  His  wig 
was  more  than  usually  ferocious,  his  whiskers  curled 
more  fiercely  than  ever;  and,  in  his  blue  swallow- 
tailed  coat,  just  far  enough  out  of  the  fashion,  his 
ruffled  shirt,  and  gold-headed  cane,  he  looked  the  pic 
ture  of  a  five-millionaire. 

He  was  not  here  for  money,  gentlemen,  not  he  ! 
He  had  subscribed  a  half-million  to  the  stock  of  the 
company  himself ;  and  he  could  easily  put  in  money 
enough  more  to  build  the  road  :  but  he  desired  to 
have  Chicago  directly  interested  in  it,  and  proposed  it 
should  reap  some  of  the  benefits  of  its  construction. 
He  wanted  New  Canton  and  Chicago  knit  together  by 
iron  bands.  He  wanted  the  present  and  prospective 
great  cities  of  the  world  knit  together  indissolubly,  to 
go  hand-in-hand  to  the  glorious  future  that  awaited 
them. 

"  Are  you  related  to  the  Peppernells,  of  Indianapo 
lis  ?  "  asked  Defrees,  whose  father,  forty  years  ago, 
owned  all  North  Chicago  as  a  muskrat  reservation, 
and  who  belonged  to  one  of  the  first  families. 

"  No,  sir ;  not  at  all.  The  name  is  not  the  same 
sir.  The  name  of  the  head  of  that  family  is  Ptpper- 
nell,  sir;  mine,  Peppernell.  The  similarity  occasions 
me  frequent  inconveniences,  sir  ;  for  I  am  very  often 
mistaken  for  him,  on  that  account.  I  presume  that 
gentleman  is  a  very  excellent  person  ;  but  it  annoys 
me  to  be  mistaken  for  him  in  a  business  way.  Mr. 
Pippernell  is  not  worth  to  exceed  8250,000,  if,  indeed, 
he  controls  that  amount  of  capital;  and  being  mis- 


54  A   PAPER   CITY. 

taken  for  him  once  injured  my  credit,  sir,  at  a  time 
when  I  needed  it  all." 

It  did  surprise  Defrees  to  have  this  magnificent 
capitalist  borrow  $22  to  pay  his  hotel  bills ;  but  he 
did  it  so  magnificently  that  the  lender  could  cherish 
no  ill  feeling  when  he  forgot  to  return  it.  Twenty- 
two  dollars  was  such  a  trifle  to  a  man  of  millions  !  — 
how  could  he  be  expected  to  burden  his  mind  with 
it? 

Now  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  Gardiner  heard  any 
part  of  this  talk  or  was  present  at  the  discussions. 
Mr.  Burt  came  with  them  to  Chicago ;  and  he  man 
aged  to  keep  Mr.  Gardiner  away  from  the  Grand 
Pacific  till  the  meeting  was  over,  much  to  his  regret, 
as  he  said  effusively.  Peppernell  did  not  care  to  have 
any  one  from  New  Canton  by  when  he  was  dealing 
with  outside  capitalists.  Still,  Mr.  Gardiner  was  im 
pressed  with  the  interest  Chicago  men  took  in  the  en 
terprise.  In  the  corridors,  he  was  introduced  to  Mr. 
Stone  and  Mr.  Hawk,  Chicago  capitalists,  who  assured 
him  there  could  be  no  earthly  doubt  of  the  success  of 
the  scheme  ;  for  Chicago  could  not  afford  to  let  it  go 
by  default.  Gardiner  went  home  thankful  that  he 
had  put  so  much  into  the  land  company,  and  certain 
that  his  investments  there  would  make  good  his  losses 
in  New  York. 

******** 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  were  at  tea.  Mr.  Lewis  as 
meek  as  usual,  and  Mrs.  Lewis,  imposing  as  possible 
in  a  black  alpaca,  very  full  and  glossy,  white  apron, 
with  ruffles,  and  a  cap  of  black  lace  over  white,  which 
was  economical,  as  it  would  not  show  wear.  Mr. 
Lewis  spoke,  between  two  bites  of  toast,  — 


A  CHANGE   OF  HEART.  55 

"  Gardiner  wanted  to  borrow  twelve  thousand  dol 
lars  of  me  to-day." 

There  was  in  his  voice  a  peculiar  inflection,  which 
made  Mrs.  Lewis  lift  her  eyebrows  inquiringly. 

"  Did  you  lend  it  to  him  ?  " 

"  Well,  no.  I  —  we  haven't  got  it,  you  know. 
But,  while  I  was  about  it,  I  thought  I  would  find  out 
how  he  was  really  fixed.  I  found  out." 

Mr.  Lewis  chuckled  a  small,  modest  chuckle,  the 
only  approach  to  self-gratulation  that  Mrs.  Lewis 
permitted  in  her  presence. 

"  When  I  undertake  a  piece  of  work  of  this  kind, 
I  give  my  whole  mind  to  it." 

"  A  very  small  contribution,  Mr.  Lewis.  You 
couldn't  do  less.  Go  on.  What  did  you  find  ?  " 

"  He  lost  120,000  with  Slap,  Dash,  &  Co.;  all  he  is 
worth,  unless  the  land  company  pans  out  as  they  ex 
pect.  If  it  shouldn't —  " 

"Gardiner's  gone,  is  he?"  burst  in  the  lady. 
44  Very  well,  then  Gardiner's  gone.  I  know  some 
thing  about  that  land  company.  I  know  Peppernell, 
and  I  can  figure  up  Burt ;  and  I  wouldn't  give  a  sou 
marquee  for  what's  going  on." 

"  I  know  more  than  that,"  responded  Mr.  Lewis. 
"  Most  all  the  sales  last  week  were  bogus  ;  and  all 
the  sales,  for  that  matter,  of  the  last  four  weeks  were 
to  men  of  straw,  to  keep  up  confidence.  I  shan't  say 
nothing  yet,  but — oh!  yes,  old  Tom  let  it  leak  out 
that  all  the  money  he  had  just  now  was  depositors', 
and  what  he  wanted  of  the  112,000  was  to  have  it  on 
hand,  in  case  there  should  be  any  trouble,  so  he  could 
weather  it  till  he  could  realize  from  the  company.  I 
let  no  such  man  have  money." 


56  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  But,  Mr.  Lewis,  if  this  is  so,  it  won't  do  to  let 
our  Mary  marry  Jim  Gardiner.  Goodness  !  Situated 
as  we  are." 

u  H-s-s-sh  ! "  exclaimed  Mr.  Lewis,  uneasily.  "  You 
never  know  who  may  be  hearing  of  us." 

"  You  show  sense,  for  once,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis,  low 
ering  her  voice.  "  Young  Jim  can't  be  any  use  if  the 
old  man  goes,  and  it's  a  certainty  he  will.  Tom  Pad- 
dleford  —  " 

The  old  man  groaned. 

"  He's  a  rat ;  and  it's  a  pity  to  give  Mary  to  such  a 
man." 

"  Rat  or  no  rat,"  returned  the  lady,  with  some  as 
perity,  "  he  and  his  father  are  safe  men,  content  with 
their  business,  and  don't  speculate.  They  are  not  in 
any  land  companies  —  or —  North  Alaska  bonds." 

Once  more  the  old  gentleman  groaned. 

"  They  own  what  they've  got ;  and  Tom  isn't  a  bad 
young  man.  He  might  be  handsomer,  and  he  might 
know  more ;  but  he  will  always  be  able  to  take  care 
of  a  wife." 

"  And  her  parents,"  sighed  Lewis.  "  Very  well. 
If  it's  got  to  be,  it  must ;  but  I  don't  want  to  hear 
about  it." 

Mrs.  Lewis  had  some  motherly  pangs  at  sacrificing 
her  daughter  to  a  man  she  knew  to  be  unworthy  of 
her ;  and  she  did  not  want  to  do  it  unless  she  was 
compelled.  She  set  investigations  on  foot ;  and  for  a 
day  or  two  her  pump  was  in  very  active  use,  and 
what  it  brought  was  examined  very  carefully. 

A  few  days  after  this  conversation,  Tom  Paddle- 
ford  was  closeted  with  her  for  an  hour  or  so ;  and 
when  he  left  the  house  he  cocked  his  hat  with  a  jaunty 


A   CHANGE  OF   HEART.  57 

air,  and  whistled  cheerfully  as  he  walked  home,  and,  if 
an  opportunity  had  presented  itself  that  evening  for 
doing  a  decent  act,  it  is  not  impossible  that  he  would 
have  done  it.  None  came  in  his  way  however,  and  he 
went  to  his  grave  with  a  record  entirely  consistent. 

A  few  evenings  after,  James  Gardiner,  walking  up 
to  the  Lewis  house,  saw  Tom  Paddleford  emerge  there 
from,  with  an  expression  of  triumph  on  his  face, 
and  a  peculiar  look  of  satisfaction  as  he  passed. 
James  felt  the  presentiment  of  evil,  and  went  swiftly 
to  its  fulfilment.  Something  unpleasant  was  to  happen. 

Mary  or  Mrs.  Lewis  had  always  received  him  at  the 
door.  The  mother  might  have  been  thought  more  in 
love  with  him  than  the  daughter ;  for  she  was  always 
warmest  in  greeting,  which  was  more  than  figuratively 
with  open  arms.  She  always  spoke  to  him  as  "my 
dear  James,"  and  had  been  the  most  convenient 
mother  imaginable.  She  knew  with  the  nicest  pro 
priety  how  long  to  stay  in  the  parlor  with  the  lovers, 
and  exactly  when  affairs  in  the  rest  of  the  house  could 
not  do  without  her  ;  and  knew  how  to  go  so  that  it 
would  not  appear  as  if  she  went  on  purpose.  James 
had  found  the  mother,  in  her  way,  hardly  less  delight 
ful  than  the  daughter. 

To-night,  he  had  hardly  entered  the  house  before 
he  felt  a  change.  '  He  tried  to  put  away  the  sickening 
suspicion  that  things  were  against  him. 

He  was  let  into  the  hall  by  the  little  bound-girl,  in 
stead  of  happy  sweetheart  or  courteous  matron.  The 
kerosene  burned  worse  than  usual,  as  if  warning  him 
of  some  dark  fate  that  hung  over  him.  The  sitting- 
room  had  an  air  of  unusual  stiffness,  with  Mrs.  Lewis 
knitting  in  one  corner,  and  Mr.  Lewis  shielding  him- 


58  A  PAPEB   CITY. 

self  behind  the  county  newspaper,  as  if  his  prospects 
depended  on  his  getting  every  line  of  it,  advertisments 
and  all.  The  place  looked  as  cheerful  as  if  the  sheriff 
had  put  in  an  attachment  that  afternoon. 

James  wondered  not  to  see  his  divinity  in  blue  me 
rino  anywhere,  and  asked  if  Mary  was  in. 

"  She  is,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Where  is  she  ?  "  was  the  next  privileged  question. 

"  She  is  in  her  room,  and  will  not  be  down  this 
evening,"  was  the  frigid  response. 

"  Is  she  sick  ?  "  inquired  the  young  man,  anxiously. 

"  She  is  not  very  well,"  said  the  cool  matron,  intent 
upon  her  knitting.  "  In  fact,  she  has  been  a  good 
deal  disturbed  this  afternoon." 

Mr.  Lewis  at  this  moved  his  feet  and  tipped  his 
chair  in  protest. 

"  But,  Mrs.  Lewis,  can't  I  see  her  ?  "  spoke  James, 
warmly,  wretched  with  the  thought  that  his  little  idol 
was  weeping,  when  he  was  so  near  to  comfort  her. 

u  I  don't  think  it  will  do  any  good  to  see  her,"  re 
sponded  the  Roman  lady,  sticking  a  knitting-needle 
she  had  just  used  into  her  hair,  and  going  on  busily  as 
ever.  "I  think  she  had  rather  not  see  you." 

James  drew  his  breath  as  though  a  cold  blast  had 
struck  him.  Here  was  a  welcome  for  an  accepted 
lover.  His  hot  blood  could  bear  suspense  no  longer. 

"  Mr.  Lewis,  may  I  ask  you  what  all  this  means  ?  " 

At  the  words,  Mrs.  Lewis's  nose  was  elevated  per 
ceptibly,  and  something  like  a  smile  for  an  instant 
played  over  her  features,  like  congealed  lightning. 
Mr.  Lewis,  too  nervous  to  bear  the  scene  any  longer, 
caught  up  his  newspaper,  without  answering,  and  fled 
ignobly  to  the  kitchen.  His  better  half,  not  deigning 


A  CHANGE   OF  HEART.  59 

to  cast  a  look  after  her  timid  spouse,  proceeded  to  de 
liver  herself,  with  equal  gravity  and  majesty,  in  the 
form  memorial,  which  parents  have  used  to  quench 
the  hopes  of  unwelcome  lovers  :  — 

"  You  have  been  coming  here  some  time,  Mr. 
Gardiner,  and  I  don't  know  how  far  things  have  gone 
between  you  and  Mary." 

44  Don't  know  I  "  groaned  poor  James. 

"  But  I  think  you  had  better  discontinue  your  visits  ; 
and,  if  there  is  any  talk  of  an  engagement  between 
you,  you  will  consider  it  at  an  end." 

The  words  fell  upon  the  young  man's  mind  as  cold 
and  pitiless  as  ice-clods  upon  his  bosom.  He  sat  gaz 
ing  at  Mrs.  Lewis  with  pale  face  and  fierce  eyes. 

"  Does  Mary  agree  to  this  ?  " 

"  Mary  is  young,  and  not  fit  to  decide  for  herself  in 
such  points.  She  will  be  guided  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
matters,  by  her  moth — parents." 

"  Will  you  tell  me  the  meaning  of  all  this  ?  Yes 
terday  I  was  not  objectionable  to  you  as  a  son-in-law." 

"  I  have  nothing  more  to  say  about  it,  and  it  is  not 
necessary  to  discuss  the  matter  further,"  returned 
Mrs.  Lewis,  stonily.  "  I  have  my  views,  and  shall 
abide  by  them." 

"I  can  see  her  once  more,  I  suppose?"  asked  the 
young  man,  determined  not  to  get  into  a  passion. 

"  Not  at  present.  I  don't  think  it  would  be  best 
for  Mary,  and  it  certainly  can  do  you  no  good." 

Gardiner  waited  but  one  minute.  His  first  impulse 
was  to  upset  the  kerosene  lamp,  walk  over  father  and 
mother,  rush  up  stairs  to  Mary's  room,  and  carry  her 
off  by  main  strength,  till  he  could  compel  her  to  an 
answer  and  find  if  she  agreed  to  this  summary  dis- 


60  A   PAPER   CITY. 

missal ;  but  he  controlled  himself,  and  left  the  house 
without  another  word. 

As  he  passed  out  of  the  gate,  he  turned  and  looked 
beseechingly  at  a  certain  window.  The  white  curtain 
was  put  aside,  a  hand  waved  a  handkerchief,  and  be 
hind  the  half-open  casement  he  saw  in  the  moon-light 
a  form  he  knew  too  well.  This  consoling  gleam  told 
that  Mary  was  true  to  him,  and  the  trouble  was  none 
of  her  seeking.  He  went  to  his  office  in  no  good 
frame  of  mind,  but  feeling  tolerably  secure.  He 
knew  Mary  loved  him,  and  he  fancied  all  the  parents 
in  the  world  could  not  keep  them  apart.  Still,  he  did 
not  know  what  was  behind;  and  his  dreams  that  night 
were  as  ugly  as  ever  afflicted  an  imaginative  young 
man  very  much  in  love,  who  found  some  large  pebbles 
thrown  into  its  smooth  course. 


NEW   CANTON   UNDER  A   CLOUD.  61 


CHAPTER    V. 

NEW   CANTON   UNDER   A   CLOUD,    AND   HOW  IT 
PARTLY   EMERGED    FROM   IT. 

COL.  PEPPERNELL,  Captain  Peak,  and  Es 
quire  Sharp,  of  the  great  land  company,  were 
not  in  as  pleasant  a  frame  of  mind  as  they  might  have 
"been.  New  Canton  was  not  pushing  ahead  as  rapidly 
as  they  hoped.  True,  they  had  put  nothing  into  it, 
and  were  in  such  position  that  they  could  lose  nothing 
in  the  enterprise ;  for  the  most  excellent  reason,  that 
they  had  nothing  whatever  to  lose.  But  they  had 
been  talking  millions  for  a  month  or  two  so  glibly 
that  each  had  come  to  consider  himself  a  capitalist, 
and  to  look  for  the  returns  of  vast  amounts  invested 
in  the  scheme.  As  the  transactions  were  mostly 
among  themselves, — like  the  two  Yankee  boys,  who 
traded  jack-knives  all  day  with  each  other,  and  came 
out  rich  in  the  evening,  —  they  had  piled  up  a  volume 
of  property  by  selling  each  other  land,  which  neither 
had  paid  for,  and  for  which  they  had  nothing  to  pay. 
Mr.  Burt  sold  the  Pelton  tract,  for  which  he  had  given 
notes  for  one  thousand  dollars  to  Col.  Peppernell  for 
ten  thousand  dollars,  taking  his  notes  in  payment. 
Peppernell  had  sold  it  to  Peak,  also  on  time,  for  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  and  justly  considered  himself  a 


62  A  PAPER  CITY. 

gainer  of  ten  thousand  dollars  by  the  transaction, 
Peak's  notes  which  he  took  being  as  good  as  his  own. 
Peak  sold  to  Sharp  for  thirty  thousand,  and  there  it 
stuck ;  and  Sharp  was  considered  as  having  the  best 
bargain.  If  time  was  money,  they  were  all  rich ;  for 
44  time  "  was  the  basis  of  all  their  transactions.  These 
sales  were  always  reported,  that  the  public  might  get 
an  idea  of  the  anxiety  of  the  land  company  managers 
for  real  estate. 

Now  and  then,  an  outsider  was  caught,  and  induced 
to  buy  a  portion  on  speculation  ;  and  good  notes  were 
taken  worth  something  besides  the  security  of  the 
land.  But  these  bites  were  too  infrequent  to  suit 
the  speculators. 

"  I  want  to  see  something  besides  this  buying  and 
selling  among  ourselves,"  was  Peppernell's  growl. 

"  I  think  it  has  gone  on  long  enough,"  Captain 
Peak  added.  "  It's  time  we  had  returns  —  something 
a  man  can  take  hold  of." 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  was  the  quick  response  of  Es 
quire  Sharp.  "Something  tangible." 

And  the  three  glared  at  Mr.  Burt,  as  if  he  had  been 
leading  them  to  their  ruin,  and  they  had  millions  in 
his  grasp  to  be  worried  about. 

Mr.  Burt  smiled;  and,  the  more  they  talked,  the 
more  he  smiled. 

"Gentlemen,"  he  said,  consolingly,  "  we  are  only  at 
the  beginning  of  our  trouble.  I  don't  see  what  you 
have  to  complain  of.  We  owe  for  land,  $200,000 ; 
but  then  we  have  the  land,  except  what  we  have  sold, 
and  for  that  we've  got  the  best  of  paper.  Land  we 
bought  at  ten  dollars  per  acre  we've  sold  for  two  hun 
dred,  and  have  interested  a  number  of  people  with  us, 


NEW   CANTON  UNDER   A   CLOUD.  63 

which  must  count  in  time.  Time  is  the  basis  of  our 
venture.  Besides,  we've  anticipated  our  final  success 
by  each  venturing  something  on  his  own  hook.  I  have 
your  notes  for  more  thousands  of  dollars  than  I  had 
cents  when  we  began  and  I  won't  insult  you  by  hold 
ing  them  worth  a  cent  less  than  their  face,  secured  as 
they  are  on  New  Canton  real  estate.  You  hold  mine. 
The  security  is  the  same.  It  is  our  business  to  make 
this  paper  worth  its  face  with  the  others." 

"  Just  what  I'd  like  to  see,"  growled  Peppernell, 
listening. 

"  The  farmer  sows  and  plows  and  hoes,  —  that  is,  he 
hoes  out  East ;  but  not  here,  where  Natura  gives  us 
enough  soil  not  to  have  to  rake  it  together  with  hoes, 
—  and  then  reaps  and  threshes,  before  he  gets  his 
wheat.  You  want  to  gather  before  you  have  fairly 
sowed.  Our  enterprise  is  only  two  months  old. 
There's  a  good  deal  to  be  done  before  we  can  harvest. 
The  pamphlets  are  out,  the  maps  are  hung ;  but  we've 
got  to  do  more.  We've  got  to  put  some  actual  money 
in  ourselves,  and  have  some  sales  that  are  not  con 
tracts,  and  not  made  among  ourselves.  In  short,  we 
have  got  to  risk  something." 

"  What  way  ?  "  asked  Peppernell. 

"We've  got  to  buy  more  land,  and,  what  is  more, 
pay  for  it,  money  down.  We've  got  to  make  ban  a 
fide  transactions.  We've  got  to  buy  farms,  and  pay 
money  for  them,  at  good  prices." 

"  I'll  sell,"  spoke  the  three,  in  a  breath. 

"  No,  gentlemen ;  we  can't  buy  of  each  other  this 
time.  It  must  be  of  outsiders ;  and  the  payments 
must  be  in  good,  clean,  honest  money,  and  the  seller 
must  have  the  cash  to  show  for  it.  To  catch  pigeons, 
you  have  to  spread  ground-bait." 


64  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  Where  are  we  to  get  the  money  ?  "  asked  Pepper- 
nell. 

"  Gardiner  must  furnish  it.  He  has  too  much  in 
vested  already  to  go  back  on  us  when  we  need  to  de 
velop  our  plans.  I'll  see  about  getting  it  myself.  I 
may  mention  what's  encouraging  —  I  heard  from  out 
side  parties,  that  a  man  from  Connecticut  will  be  here 
Thursday —  come  on  purpose  to  look  at  land  in  New 
Canton.  If  you  will  have  patience,  and  not  spoil 
every  thing,  we'll  have  this  matter  arranged  in  a  way 
to  get  up  confidence.  If  any  of  you  have  better  plans 
to  propose,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  hear  them.  I've 
carried  the  burden  of  this  business  so  far  ;  and,  if  any 
man  wants  to  relieve  me  of  it,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to 
have  him,  I  can  tell  you." 

Peppernell  attempted  to  bluster,  and  find  out  de 
tails  ;  but  the  quiet  will  of  the  really  strong  man  was 
superior. 

Thursday  came,  and  with  it  the  Connecticut  man, 
who  registered  at  the  Grand  Central,  as  "  Mr.  Thomp 
son,  of  Meridan,  Conn."  His  errand  and  importance 
being  duly  spread  in  the  village,  few  of  his  motions 
were  lost  to  the  observing  people ;  and,  when  he 
called  at  the  office  of  the  land  compar^,  to  make  in 
quiries  about  real  estate,  it  happened  there  were 
plenty  of  men  in,  who  pricked  up  their  ears  as  they 
caught  scraps  of  the  conversation  between  Mr.  Thomp 
son,  of  Connecticut,  and  the  Secretary. 

To  their  surprise,  and  much  to  their  chagrin,  Mr. 
Thompson  fought  shy  of  the  land  company,  in  his 
transactions.  He  was  not  a  fancy  personage  at  all, 
—  very  plain-spoken  and  equally  plain-dressed,  one  of 
those  trading  farmers,  who,  by  holding  tight  every 


NEW   CANTON   UNDER   A   CLOUD.  65 

advantage  they  get  in  life,  manage  inevitably  to  amass 
money.  He  looked  as  if  he  knew  how  to  make  money 
and  keep  it,  and  how  to  invest  it  when  he  had  his 
mind  made  up.  His  blue  eye  was  cool  and  acute,  his 
features  weather-beaten  and  set,  his  manners  utterly 
without  polish,  but  decent,  like  his  calf-skin  shoes 
and  blue-gray  socks.  As  to  his  clothes,  Fitz-Hugh 
indignantly  observed  to  a  bystander,  "  A  suit  like  he 
wore  never  cost  above  twenty  or  twenty-five  dollars 
in  the  world."  In  the  course  of  coversation,  before 
he  left  town,  Mr.  Thompson  mentioned  that  they 
were  his  Sunday  clothes,  and  he  never  owned  any 
better.  This  left  people  a  deep  impression  of  his 
wealth,  as  it  gave  him  the  privilege  of  wearing  such 
clothes  as  he  had  a  mind  to ;  but  poor  men  of  the 
Fitz-Hugh  order,  who  never  could  pay  for  one  suit 
before  the  next  one  wore  out,  called  it  thankless  for 
good  gifts  not  to  make  use  of  them  to  their  fullest 
ability. 

"  If  I  didn't  live  something  according  to  the  station 
I  was  in,"  Fitz-Hugh  said,  talking  it  over  before 
Wednesday-night  prayer-meeting  with  a  neighbor,  "I 
should  expect  to  have  my  means  taken  away  from 
me,"  a  remark  which  went  to  fix  in  people's  minds 
the  existing  opinion,  that  Fitz-Hugh  was  capable  of 
getting  away  with  whatever  portion  fortune  was 
pleased  to  send  him,  small  or  large. 

Mr.  Thompson  stated  confidentially  to  chance  ac 
quaintances  at  the  hotel,  that  he  did  not  like  to  do 
business  with  the  land  company,  as  it  was  interested, 
and  he  did  not  know  how  far  it  was  to  be  depended 
on ;  but,  as  he  was  going  to  invest  in  Western  land, 
after  studying  New  Canton,  he  was  satisfied,  if  he 

5 


66  A  PAPER   CITY. 

could  get  ground  cheap  enough,  that  it  was  the  best 
thing  he  could  do.  He  charmed  Paddleford,  Senior, 
by  asking  his  advice.  Merriman,  on  whom  he  called, 
was  delighted  with  the  man,  and  urged  him  to  stay 
and  settle  in  New  Canton  by  all  means.  Merriman 
introduced  him  to  Stokes  and  Bates  and  Luxton ;  and 
he  got  advice  from  all  three. 

By  way  of  inducing  Mr.  Thompson  to  locate  in 
New  Canton,  these  men  said  more  for  the  town  than 
Burt  or  Peppernell  would  have  done  ;  and  were  so 
carried  away  by  their  zeal,  that,  without  intending  it, 
they  found  themselves  in  the  land  office,  showing  its 
maps  and  contemplated  improvements  as  eloquently 
as  if  they  all  had  stock  in  it. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  in  no  hurry  to  buy ;  but  he 
privately  told  everyone  he  had  no  more  doubt  of  New 
Canton's  future  than  he  had  of  a  Judgment  Day.  He 
was  first  attracted  to  it  by  studying  the  map  of  the 
state  of  Illinois,  at  home  in  Connecticut.  It  had  a 
wonderfully  promising  geographical  position,  and,  in 
the  very  nature  of  things,  must  grow  into  an  immense 
inland  city.  It  was  as  plain  as  day  to  any  one  who 
had  ever  made  a  study  of  the  laws  that  govern  the 
growth  of  cities.  Every  man  who  built  a  house  or 
opened  a  farm  within  a  hundred  miles  of  New  Can 
ton  contributed  just  that  much  to  its  growth ;  for  his 
trade  must  inevitably  come  there  some  day.  New 
Canton  was  already  being  talked  of  in  the  East ;  and 
"  land  lying  around  loose,''  as  he  expressed  it,  would 
not  long  be  in  the  market. 

Finally,  he  bought  the  Taylor  place,  the  Adams 
place,  and  Gubbins's  eighty  acres,  and  paid  a  thou 
sand  dollars  down  on  each,  giving  a  mortgage  for  the 
balance,  in  four  annual  payments. 


NEW   CANTON   UNDER   A   CLOUD.  67 

Then  there  was  an  excitement  in  town. 

"What  did  he  pay?"  asked  Paddleford,  Senior, 
peering  over  the  edge  of  his  ledger  and  the  desk  rail 
ing. 

"  Hundred  and  fifty  for  Taylor's,  two  hundred  for 
Adams's,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty -five  for  Gub- 
bins's,"  said  Tom. 

44  Not  per  acre?" 

"  Yes,  per  acre.  And,  what's  more,  he  paid  a  thou 
sand  apiece  to  each  of  'em.  There  ain't  no  humbug 
about  it.  I  saw  'em  deposit  the  cash  with  Gardiner." 

44  What !  so  ?  Why,  that  land  would  have  been 
dear  six  months  ago  at  $20  an  acre.  The  nearest's 
two  miles  out,"  was  Paddleford's  answer.  And  he 
went  away  sorrowful ;  for  he  could  have  had  a  mil 
lion  of  acres  at  $1.25  an  acre,  if  he  had  u  struck  in  " 
ten  years  before,  and  had  the  million  and  a  quarter 
of  dollars  to  pay  for  it. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  asked  why  he  bought  so  far  out 
of  town. 

44  Far  out?  Every  foot  of  that  land  will  be  a  long 
ways  in  town  in  three  years.  Don't  pity  me.  I  wish 
I  had  more  to  spend  the  same  way." 

The  news  reached  Mr.  Burt,  and  roused  him  might 
ily.  He  wanted  to  know  why  Adams,  Gubbins,  and 
Taylor  hadn't  offered  the  company  their  land  before 
selling.  They'd  given  bargains  to  a  total  stranger, 
when  their  own  townsmen  would  have  been  glad  to 
have  taken  it  at  the  price,  and  possibly  more.  Pep- 
pernell  denounced  them  for  a  set  of  idiots.  The 
44  Midland  "  had  determined  to  locate  its  depots  and 
shops  out  that  way  ;  and  how  Thompson  became  pos 
sessed  of  the  facts  was  a  mystery.  He  had  taken 


68  A   PAPER   CITY. 

them  in  nicely.  The  land  company  wanted  the  land, 
and  was  bound  to  have  it,  at  some  price  or  other.  It 
was  a  necessity  to  them. 

The  "  Sentinel  "  had  an  elaborate  article  on  the 
sale,  and  laid  great  stress  on  the  fact  it  was  for  cash, 
and  good  and  lawful  money  had  been  paid  for  it,  as 
if  the  inhabitants  of  New  Canton  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  trading  shark's  teeth  and  red  feathers  in  ex 
change  for  commodities.  It  was  stated,  in  impressive 
italics,  that  the  same  land  six  months  before  would 
have  been  considered  high  at  twenty  dollars  an  acre  ; 
but  that  the  price  paid  for  it  was  not  exorbitant,  when 
the  growth  of  New  Canton  and  its  certain  progress 
was  taken  into  account. 

Gubbins,  Adams,  and  Taylor  began  to  feel  as  if 
they  had  been  swindled ;  and,  while  in  public  they  kept 
a  good  face,  in  private  they  doubted  whether  they  had 
done  wisely  in  selling  so  cheaply.  They  remembered 
the  farmers  in  Chicago,  who  sold  their  land  for  one 
or  two  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  and,  in  ten  years,  saw 
it  covered  with  fine  buildings  and  worth  more  per 
square  foot  than  they  had  got  per  acre.  They  came 
into  town,  and  held  long  conversations  with  Burt; 
and  there  was  much  driving  out  and  examining  of 
plats  and  maps,  and  consultations  of  records  and  docu 
ments  at  the  court-house. 

A  few  days  passed,  and  Peppernell  called  in  the 
office  of  the  land  company. 

"  Thompson  gone  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  He  paid  cash  for  them  farms  ?  "  asked  Peppernell, 
inquiringly. 

"  Certainly ;  and  the  transaction  gives  confidence, 
which  we  want  very  much  just  now." 


NEW  CANTON  UNDER  A  CLOUD.  69 

"  I  understand." 

"It  gives   us   capital   to   go  on   too.      Thompson 
bought  at  what  Gubbins,  Adams,  and  Taylor  consid 
ered  at  the  time  a  big  price.      When  they  saw  their 
mistake,  they  got  sick.    They  wanted  land  again ;  and 
I  sold  Taylor  the  piece  on  the  north  line,  Gubbins  the 
piece  next  to  it  but  one,  and  Adams  one  on  the  south 
east  corner  ;  and  they  paid  down  the  thousand  dollars 
each  they  got  from  Thompson,  and  I  took  their  notes 
with  mortgage  for  the  balance.     I  have  their  notes  in 
the  safe ;  and  they  have  Thompson's  notes,  which  are 
just  as  good  as  the  land  is.     I  hope  he  will  pay  them 
as  they  fall  due.      But  the  notes  of  our  friends  are 
perfectly  good  if  the  land  don't  sell  for  ten  dollars. 
Besides,  they  paid  more  for  the  land  I  sold  them  than 
they  got  for  their  own,  on  account  of  its  nearness  to 
town ;  and  they  are  all  anxious  to  get  more,  before 
it's  too  high.      We  have  good  notes,  which  gives  us 
something  to  go  on.     It  wasn't  very  much  of  an  opera 
tion,  Colonel,  but  it'll  do.     The  effect  of  the  transac 
tion  will  have  a  good  influence.      We  had  more  in 
quiries  yesterday  and  to-day  than  we've  had  for  weeks ; 
and  there  are  a  dozen  good  sales  on  the  books  now! 
It'll  work,  if  we  stick  to  it.      By  the  way,  Colonel, 
you  want  to  lose  that  discouraged  face  of  yours,  and 
have  Sharp  and  Peak  look  a  little  more  as  if  they 
were  worth  a  million.      It  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
you  could  get  a  new  buggy; —  and,  say,  whitewash 
your  front  fence  ;   and  a  new  suit  of  clothes  would 
help,  for  Peak.     We  must  look  prosperous.     White 
wash  your  fence,  and  —  spread  whitewash  over  most 
every  thing.     We  must  look  as  solvent  as  we  can,  if 
we  have  to  go  in  debt  for  it.      People  see  the  pros- 


70  A   PAPER   CITY. 

perity.  They  don't,  thank  Heaven,  see  where  it 
comes  from." 

The  advice  was  carried  out  to  the  letter.  The  four 
directors  suddenly  became  pressed  with  business.  Mr. 
Burt  would  not  let  them  talk  very  much.  He  had 
no  faith  in  any  one's  talk  but  his  own  ;  but  they  kept 
very  hard  at  work.  They  drove  furiously.  They 
were  taking  strangers  out  to  various  parts  of  the 
town.  They  were  riding  long  distances  into  the 
country,  and  returning  in  all  sorts  of  mysterious 
ways ;  and  Peppernell  had  a  trick  of  driving  down 
the  main  street,  getting  out  in  front  of  the  Grand 
Central,  and,  stepping  hastily  into  the  office  of  the 
hotel,  taking  from  his  vest  a  map  of  the  county,  as  if 
his  life  depended  on  tracing  out  roads  and  marking 
out  certain  tracts  of  land  very  carefully.  What  im 
pressed  people  most,  was,  that,  when  on  such  occa 
sions  a  friend  would  step  up  and  in  a  familiar  way 
ask  him  to  "  take  suthin',"  Peppernell  would  look  up 
vacantly,  and  answer:  "No,  thank  you.  Haven't 
time.  Hev  you  seen  Timmins,  of  Whetstun  Town 
ship,  in  to-day  ?  No  ?  It's  lucky.  He's  probably 
at  home."  And  he  would  drive  franticly  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Whetstone  Township,  as  though  his  life  de 
pended  on  getting  there  iii  the  shortest  possible  time. 

"  Well,  I'll  be  d— d  !  "  was  the  remark  after  he  had 
gone.  "  It  must  be  mighty  important  business  'd 
prevent  old  Pep  taking  a  drink  whe'n  he  was  asked. 
I've  known  him  leave  the  court-house  on  a  wink  when 
he  was  sheriff,  and  he's  now  declinin'  a  spoken  invite !  " 

From  the  New  Canton  " Forum  of  the  People." 

"  WE  were  favored  with  a  call  from  John  R.  Thomp- 


NEW   CANTON   UNDER   A   CLOUD.  71 

son,  Esq.,  of  Meriden,  Connecticut,  last  week.  Mr. 
Thompson  came  to  New  Canton  on  a  tour  of  observa 
tion,  for  the  purpose  of  making  investments  in  real 
estate,  if  he  should  be  convinced  that  the  future  of 
the  city  was  as  brilliant,  as  supposed. 

"  Mr.  Thompson  is  one  of  the  heaviest  capitalists 
in  Meriden,  and  has  operated  very  largely  in  Western 
real  estate,  preferring  that  form  of  investment  to  any 
other,  as  more  certain,  besides  being  immensely  profit 
able. 

"  It  is  needless  to  say,  that,  after  examining  thor 
oughly,  and  making  the  most  minute  examination  of 
our  facilities,  Mr.  Thompson  invested,  as  we  stated 
last  week.  He  purchased  the  80  of  John  Taylor,  the 
120  of  Daniel  Gubbins,  and  the  160  of  Thomas  Adams, 
paying  on  an  average  for  the  three  tracts  $165  per 
acre.  These  lands  would  not  have  brought,  six  months 
ago,  more  than  $20  per  acre. 

"  Rapid  as  this  advance  has  been,  we  assert  that 
the  land  went  cheaply  ;  and  that  opinion  is  shared  by 
the  managers  of  the  land  company.  We  understand 
they  contemplated  the  purchase  of  these  pieces,  on 
certain  information  that  the  4  Midland '  intended  to 
locate  their  depots  in  the  vicinity ;  but  Mr.  Thomp 
son  purchased  before  they  were  aware  that  the  gentle 
men  would  sell.  Mr.  Burt  acknowledged  that  the 
New  Englander  got  ahead  of  him,  and  wrote  last 
Monday,  offering  him  a  very  handsome  advance, 
which  he  promptly  declined,  saying  that  he  would 
not  sell  at  any  price.  '  If  New  Canton  does  what  I 
expect  it  will  do,'  wrote  Mr.  Thompson, '  I  have  made 
a  big  thing.  If  it  does  not,  I  can  stand  it.' 

"  Messrs.  Gubbins,  Taylor,  and  Adams,  feeling  that 
they  acted  unwisely  in  parting  with  their  real  estate 
at  this  time,  immediately  repaired  their  error  by  pur 
chasing  other  tracts,  which  are  even  more  eligible  and 
valuable. 

"  It  is  a  fact  which  will  be  pleasing  to  the  holders 
of  real  estate,  that  Mr.  Thompson,  whose  investments 


72  A   PAPER   CITY. 

have  never  failed  to  be  profitable,  was  attracted  to 
New  Canton  years  ago  by  a  study  of  the  map  of 
the  state.  He  long  since  recognized  the  fact,  that 
there  must  be  at  this  point  a  great  inland  city  ;  and 
his  only  regret  is,  that  he  did  not  come  sooner.  He 
intends  to  bring  all  his  capital  here  ;  and  this  invest 
ment  is  the  prelude  to  others  of  more  importance. 

"  Mr.  Thompson  informed  us  that  New  Canton  is 
already  attracting  a  deal  of  attention  in  the  money 
centers  of  the  East ;  and  another  land  company,  made 
up  of  the  strongest  capitalists  of  the  Nutmeg  State,  is 
not  an  improbable  thing." 

"  THE  block  of  lots  on  the  corner  of  Elm  and 
Locusts  Streets  was  sold  yesterday  to  parties  from 
Worcester,  Mass.,  for  $167  each,  one-fourth  in  hand, 
and  the  balance  usual  time.  Five  cottages  will  be 
commenced  at  once." 


"  THE  projected  improvements  in  the  Fourth  Ward 
are  progressing  as  rapidly  as  the  weather  will  permit. 
Col.  Peppernell  has  purchased  five  hundred  trees,  in 
addition  to  the  twenty  already  planted ;  and  he  will 
make  that  the  most  pleasant  section  of  the  city.  The 
Colonel  is  at  work  indefatigably ;  and  he  is  going 
about  it  in  the  right  way.  Would  we  had  more  Pep- 
pernells." 

"  PARTIES  from  Peoria  were  in  the  city  yesterday, 
looking  for  a  location  to  establish  a  manufactory  of 
agricultural  implements.  They  expressed  themselves 
as  delighted  with  our  growing  city,  and  returned  to 
make  final  arrangements  for  removing  their  entire  es 
tablishment.  And  so  they  come." 

After  all  this,  lots  sold  briskly  ;  and  the  transac 
tions  were  real.  As  hundreds  of  copies  of  the  "  Fo 
rum  "  were  circulated  gratuitously,  containing  these 


NEW   CANTON   UNDER   A   CLOUD.  73 

items,  there  were  a  large  number  of  strangers  in  the 
town  for  awhile  ;  and  most  of  them  purchased  more 
or  less,  paying  very  small  amounts  down,  and  giving 
mortgages  for  the  remainder. 

The  directors  wore  smiling  faces.  Mr.  Gardiner, 
in  particular,  was  pleased,  as  he  had  reason  to  be. 
Mr.  Burt  did  not  waste  his  time  smiling ;  but  he  was 
a  terror  to  the  young  man  who  mailed  circulars  in  his 
office,  and  the  town  was  pervaded  with  him.  He 
wanted  to  keep  up  the  effect  his  strategy  had  pro 
duced. 

No  one,  not  even  Peppernell,  knew  that  Mr.  Thomp 
son  was  Burt's  brother-in-law, — that  the  money  he 
paid  for  his  land  Burt  borrowed  of  Mr.  Gardiner,  and 
repaid  with  the  same  money,  received  from  those  to 
whom  Thompson  paid  it.  No  one  saw  the  expression 
of  relief  on  Mr.  Burt's  face  when  he  took  the  money 
of  Gubbins,  Taylor,  and  Adams. 

"  It  was  a  mighty  close  thing.  What  would  have 
happened  if  I  hadn't  induced  those  idiots  to  buy,  so 
that  I  could  pay  Gardiner  ?  It  was  clever  in  Thomp 
son  to  come  and  help  me  out." 


74 


A  PAPER  CITY. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

JAMES   GARDINER  MAKES   TROUBLE. 

j"T  is  not  difficult  for  a  young  man  to  live  cheerfully 
1  under  the  ban  of  his  proposed  mother-in-law, 
when  he  is  sustained  each  morning  by  such  an  im 
petuous  little  note  as  this,  from  her  daughter : 

"  Dear,  dear,  dear  Jim  :  Ma  is  determined  that  I 
shall  marry  Tom  Paddleford,  and  quit  you.  She  has 
worried  me  almost  to  death.  But  I  never,  never, 
never  will  give  you  up.  I  love  you,  and  you  only' 
and  I  will  be  true  to  you. 

"  Faithfully  and  forever, 

MARY. 


"P.  S.  —  I  will  always  love  you  and  be  true  to  you. 
Ma  shall  not  force  me  away  from  my  dear  Jim." 

It  may  be  remarked  that  Miss  Lewis,  the  writer  of 
this  note,  had  cost  her  mamma  and  papa  much  thought 
and  anxiety  as  to  the  proper  school  for  their  darling 
daughter.  Considerable  sums  of  money  were  spent 
to  insure  her  graduating  at  the  Mount  Gilead  Female 
College,  from  which  she  emerged  with  diploma,  duly 
certified  and  ribboned,  to  expand  her  mind  in  writing 
such  letters  as  the  above.  It  may  be  taken  as  evi 
dence  of  Mr.  James  Gardiner's  deep  and  absorb 
ing  affection  for  her,  that  these  notes  seemed  to  him 


JAMES   GARDINER  MAKES   TROUBLE.  75 

the  most  expressive  in  the  world,  and  he  could  not 
conceive  of  a  form  of  letter  more  satisfactory  or  beau 
tiful. 

As  a  rule,  all  love-letters  ought  to  be  burned  within 
twenty -four  hours  of  their  receipt,  lest  they  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  third  parties,  and  straightway- 
put  them  out  of  the  idea  of  love  and  affection  forever. 
A  fond  husband  once  showed  a  letter  just  received 
from  his  young  wife,  which  he  found  too  touchingly 
tender  to  keep  from  the  world.  In  a  burst  of  affec 
tion,  the  writer  apostrophized  him  as  her  "  hebenly 
pig,"  and  signed  herself  his  "  ownie  small  white 
mice,"  symbols  of  much  fond  meaning,  doubtless,  to 
the  parties,  but  not  ravishing  to  the  average  friend. 

The  present  fiat  of  Mrs.  Lewis  was  inconvenient, 
because  it  forbade  James  the  house,  and  the  lovers 
had  the  trouble  of  finding  other  places  to  meet  in  ;  but 
the  little  notes  found  on  the  office-desk  were  suffi 
ciently  reassuring  for  any  man  who  only  wanted  to 
know  that  his  love  was  true  to  him,  and  who  held 
mothers  and  fathers  cheap  impediments  in  the  way  of 
young  love.  James  felt  himself  master  of  the  situa 
tion,  and  could  smile  superciliously  at  Tom  Paddle- 
ford  when  he  met  him,  and  he  returned  with  great 
courtesy  the  frosty  bows  of  Mrs.  Lewis,  when  fate  or 
dained  they  met. 

Thank  Heaven,  they  did  not  live  in  feudal  times,  when 
parents  had  absolute  control  of  the  lives  and  persons 
of  their  daughters.  Mary  was  of  age ;  and  in  good 
time  what  was  to  prevent  her  from  putting  on  her 
bonnet,  and  walking  out  of  the  front  door  of  the 
Lewis  home,  going  with  him  quietly  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Latioaer,  and  being  united  in  the  holy  bonds  of  mat- 


76  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

rimony?  Her  papa  could  not  order  his  cruel  servi 
tors  to  take  her  and  confine  her  in  the  grated  chamber 
of  the  northeast  tower ;  neither  could  he  seize  Gardi 
ner,  and  order  his  men-at-arms  to  bind  the  knave  and 
hurl  him  into  the  deepest  dungeon  'neath  the  castle- 
moat,  for  the  reason  that  he  had  no  men-at-arms,  castle- 
moat,  nor  dungeon,  unless  a  vegetable-cellar  under 
the  east  wing  of  his  house  might  be  so  used. 

The  main  point  was  the  truth  of  the  girl  herself  and, 
as  he  got  delightful  epistles  from  her  daily,  and  met 
her  in  the  grove  in  long  and  sweet  converse,  he  dis 
missed  all  fears,  and  regarded  Tom  Paddleford  pity 
ingly,  as  a  man  who  would  wake  up  some  fine  morning 
and  find  himself  wofulty  deceived. 

Still  he  could  not  help  feeling  disquieted  when 
Mary  told  him  that  the  little  reptile  came  every  night 
to  the  house,  and  her  mother  compelled  her  to  see  and 
entertain  him  till  nearly  eleven.  She  might  plead 
headache,  or  earache,  or  any  other  excuse  ;  but  she 
had  to  sit  and  play  and  sing  and  talk  with  him  ;  and 
it  had  gone  so  far  that  he  had  invited  her  to  accom 
pany  him  to  a  concert. 

James  kissed  her  for  a  brave  little  girl  when  she  told 
him  she  refused,  and,  when  her  mother  attempted  to 
use  her  authority,  rebelled,  and  there  had  been  a  ter 
rible  time  about  it. 

"  Ma  told  me  I  was  an  ungrateful  girl,  to  fly  in  the 
face  of  my  parents  in  that  unnatural  way.  But  I  told 
her  it  was  enough  if  I  had  to  see  him  in  the  house, 
without  going  out  with  him,  and  making  a  show  of 
myself  to  the  whole  town.  We  had  words  ;  and  ma 
stormed  and  pa  cried,  and  I  was  so  angry  you  can't 
tell,  but  I  wouldn't  go.  And  pa  and  ma  went  out  of 


JAMES   GAKDINER   MAKES   TROUBLE.  77 

ff- 

the  room  and  talked  it  over.  I  heard  pa  say  it 
wouldn't  do  to  crowd  me  too  far  at  once,  and  ma 
sniffed,  and  they  came  back.  And  ma  said  that  if  I 
would  be  willful  I  might  have  my  way  ;  but  I  would 
be  sorry  for  it.  Tom  came  in  the  evening,  and  stayed 
half  an  hour  later  than  he  ever  had,  and  begged  me 
not  to  treat  him  so  coldly,  for  he  loved  me ;  and  he 
tried  to  take  my  hand,  and  —  oh!  Jim,  I'm  dreadfully 
miserable,  and  wish  it  was  all  over." 

James  folded  her  in  his  strong  arms,  in  which  she 
rested  securely,  feeling  that  there  she  was  safe  from 
all  the  Paddlefords  in  the  world,  supported  and  sus 
tained  by  all  the  Lewis  mothers  that  ever  lived. 

Assuring  him  that  she  would  never  marry  Tom, 
never,  and  would  be  true  to  her  dear  James  forever  ; 
and,  after  looking  around  in  a  frightened  manner,  to 
be  sure  no  one  had  seen  them  together,  she  left  him, 
and  ran  home  like  a  frightened  hare. 

Despite  this  assurance,  James  was  ill  at  ease.  Their 
meetings  grew  less  frequent,  and  she  often  failed  in 
their  appointments.  Pie  was  always  in  the  grove  a 
full  half -hour  before  her ;  and  it  is  no  small  thing  for 
a  full-blooded,  impatient  man  to  wait  for  the  woman 
he  loves,  when  he  has  been  looking  at  his  watch  every 
ten  minutes,  three  hours  before  the  time.  When  he 
had  waited  a  half  hour,  walking  up  and  down,  to 
work  off  the  impatience  possessing  him,  he  would 
curse  all  the  world;  and,  after  another  half-hour, 
would  go  to  his  room  and  sulk  the  evening  away,  and 
wonder  whether  it  wouldn't  be  better,  after  all,  to  cut 
the  whole  thing,  and  let  Mary  go. 

But  when  the  next  time  she  came  with  eyes  that 
showed  weeping,  and  sprang  to  his  side  and  clung 


78  A  PAPER   CITY. 

there,  and  told  with  sobs,  that  ma  kept  so  close  a 
watch  upon  her  that  she  couldn't  possibly  get  away, 
and  that  wretch,  Paddleford,  came  in  earlier  than 
usual,  and  she  had  to  stay,  and  then  broke  down  and 
cried  as  though  her  heart  would  break,  Jim  could  but 
kiss  her  tenderly,  and  tell  her  that  he  would  soon  put 
an  end  to  it  all  by  carrying  her  off  and  making  her 
his  wife. 

"  What  under  Heaven  has  your  mother  against  me  ?" 
lie  asked. 

"I  don't  know,  for  I  don't  hear  their  talk.  Ma 
don't  talk  to  pa  much.  She  don't  need  to  talk  to 
anybody." 

"  I  understand.  She  is  a  "whole  family,  all  but  a 
daughter,  in  herself.  But  haven't  you  any  idea?" 

"  Once  I  heard  ma  say  something  about  the  land 
company,  and  once  I  heard  something  about  some  New 
York  bank,  and  your  father,  but  I  don't  know  what 
it  was  about." 

Gardiner  looked  grave  at  this.  He  knew  what  it 
meant ;  and  how  Mrs.  Lewis  had  obtained  the  infor 
mation  puzzled  him.  But  he  dismissed  the  idea,  as 
men  do  dangers  not  close  upon  them. 

But  when  the  little  notes  began  to  come  infrequently 
and  the  appointments  were  kept  rarely,  and  there  was 
a  confusion  in  her  manner  when  she  did  meet  him, 
which  told  she  kept  something  back  she  dared  not  tell 
him,  he  began  to  feel  his  position  unendurable.  He 
begged  her  to  tell  him  frankly  all  that  was  between 
them,  but  her  only  answer  was  a  wringing  of  hands 
and  floods  of  tears. 

After  a  few  such  distracting  passages  he  was  not 
quite  unprepared  to  receive  this  note,  which  came  to 


JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   TROUBLE.  79 

him  blotted  and  blurred,  and  he  knew  cost  the  poor 
girl  a  heartful  of  pain  to  write.  As  it  came  by  the 
little  bound-girl,  direct  from  Mrs.  Lewis,  he  knew 
whom  he  had  to  thank,  though  it  was  in  Mary's  hand 
writing  :  — 

"  Dear,  dear  Jim  :  It's  all  over.  I  can't  hold  out 
any  longer.  Ma  has  driven  me  to  it.  I  can't  tell  you 
the  reason,  but  I  must  marry  Tom  Paddleford,  and 
that  right  away.  Forgive  me  and  forget  me.  You 
will  know  some  day  why  I  do  it,  and  then  you  won't 
blame  me.  I  shall  always  love  you. 

"  In  despair, 

"YouR  MARY." 

The  next  morning,  when  he  met  Tom  Paddleford, 
that  gentleman  cocked  his  hat  over  his  left  ear  —  it 
had  plenty  of  support — and  winked  such  undisguised 
triumph  that  Gardiner  only  avoided  knocking  him 
down  by  crossing  the  street.  Mrs.  Lewis  met  him 
soon  after,  and  assumed  a  aggravatingly  pleasant  air 
toward  him  !  He  could  not  strike  her,  nor  was  there 
any  way  in  which  he  could  express  his  regard  for  her. 
Old  Lewis  avoided  him  carefully.  When  likely  to 
meet  on  the  sidewalk,  the  old  gentleman  found  it  con 
venient  to  cross  the  street,  even  if  the  mud  were  ankle- 
deep  ;  seeing  which,  Gardiner  took  a  special  delight 
in  coming  upon  him  where  the  mud  was  the  thickest 
and  the  crossing  all  but  impossible. 

What  vexed  and  worried  him  most  was  that  he 
could  not  by  any  strategy  see  Mary.  Either  the 
dragon,  her  mother,  kept  too  close  a  watch  upon  her, 
or  the  girl  herself  did  not  dare  to  meet  him.  Which 
was  it  ?  The  truth  was,  the  mother  feared  the  influ 
ence  she  knew  James  had  over  her  daughter,  and 


80  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Mary  herself  was  afraid  to  meet  the  man  she  had  be 
trayed.  She  was  sick  at  heart,  and,  having  consented 
to  breaking  her  troth,  she  wanted  nothing  to  make 
the  sacrifice  demanded  of  her  intolerable. 

It  was  hardly  possible,  however,  that  trouble  should 
not  grow  out  of  such  exceedingly  good  cause.  James 
Gardiner,  smarting  under  the  injustice  done  him,  was 
in  a  state  of  mind  that  made  him  a  very  dangerous 
man.  Had  Mary  died,  he  could  have  buried  her  arid 
borne  it ;  but  to  see  the  girl  he  loved,  and  who  loved 
him,  taken  away  and  given  to  the  last  man  in  the 
world  worthy  so  much  sweetness,  added  gall  to  bitter 
ness. 

One  afternoon,  as  he  was  walking  toward  his  office, 
in  the  ugliest  possible  mood,  he  met  Tom  Paddleford 
in  front  of  the  Grand  Central.  As  ill  luck,  which 
seemed  to  rule  the  day,  had  it,  Tom  had  been  for  an 
hour  at  the  bar  of  the  hotel,  filling  himself  with  the 
whisky  of  the  region,  and  was  as  reckless  as  he  was  ugly. 
As  he  left  the  group  of  stimulated  men  who  had  been 
with  him,  he  saw  Gardiner,  and  his  little  soul  was 
filled  with  a  delight  that  was  almost  a  delirium.  He 
could  not  restrain  himself  from  showing  off  the  tri 
umph  swelling  his  little  soul  to  bursting.  As  Gardi 
ner  passed,  he  leered  at  him  with  an  expression  so 
malignantly  small,  of  such  devilish  satisfaction  that  it 
shook  all  resolve  and  prudence  out  of  Gardiner. 

One  well-directed  blow  from  his  nervous  fist  laid 
the  fellow  on  the  sidewalk,  a  rod  from  where  he  had 
been  standing;  and,  before  the  bystanders  could  inter 
fere,  Gardiner  had  pulled  him  up  and  was  bringing 
up  all  arrears  of  discipline  from  Tom's  babyhood  till 
now.  One  or  two  tried  to  interfere,  but  the  only  good 


JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   TROUBLE.  81 

they  came  in  for  was  part  of  the  neat  and  well-finished 
beating,  and  they  wisely  left  him  alone. 

At  last,  tired  and  breathless,  James  dismissed  his 
tormentor  with  one  contemptuous  kick,  and  left  him, 
bruised  and  bleeding,  on  the  ground.  Turning  to  the 
crowd,  he  asked  if  any  of  Mr.  Paddleford's  friends 
were  desirous  of  avenging  his  wrongs,  and  walked 
away. 

He  went  to  Esquire  Sharp's  office,  and  directed  that 
worthy,  if  Mr.  Paddleford  should  make  a  complaint 
of  assault  and  battery  against  him,  to  plead  guilty, 
and  he  would  pay  the  fine.  Then  he  went  to  his  of 
fice,  and  locked  himself  in.  The  exercise  and  satis 
faction  made  him  feel  better  a  few  minutes ;  but,  when 
he  cooled  down,  he  felt  that  it  was  no  credit  to  thrash 
so  small  a  brute  as  Paddleford,  and  that,  while  he  had 
made  Tom  ridiculous,  he  had,  in  doing  it,  mortified 
himself. 

It  would  require  a  better  pen  than  mine  to  describe 
the  effect  of  such  extraordinary  proceedings  upon 
New  Canton  society.  The  standing  of  the  parties, 
the  unexpected  assault,  and  its  almost  tragic  ending 
gave  the  village  something  to  talk  over  that  was  a 
first-class  sensation.  The  first  report  circulated  was 
that  Tom  had  been  set  upon  by  Gardiner,  and  killed, 
Mrs.  Paddleford  had  gone  insane  when  she  saw  the 
dead  bod}%  and  was  now  under  the  care  of  three  phy 
sicians,  and  it  took  three  men  to  hold  her.  This  re 
port  was  next  morning  contradicted :  Tom  was  not 
quite  dead,  but  his  skull  was  fractured,  and  he  could 
not  live  an  hour.  Surgeons  had  been  sent  for  express 
to  Chicago.  The  next  news  was  that  Jim  Gardiner 
had  gone  to  his  office,  after  the  deed,  and  deliberately 

G 


82  A   PAPEK  CITY. 

cut  his  throat.  Then  that  was  contradicted.  He  had 
not  really  cut  his  throat,  but  was  preparing  to  do  it, 
and  had  the  razor  strapped  and  honed,  but  was  pre 
vented  by  Peppernell  and  his  father,  who  came  in  the 
nick  of  time  to  save  him. 

But,  when  the  cause  of  the  assault  became  known, 
there  were  pickings  for  the  teeth  of  the  gossip-feeder. 
Mary  Lewis  had  left  Jim  Gardiner  and  was  going  to 
marry  Tom  Paddleford,  which  was  abundant  cause 
for  the  terrible  assault.  What  had  she  done  that  for? 
Because  Mrs.  Lewis  found  James  had  another  wife 
in  an  adjoining  county.  Because  he  had  committed 
a  forgery  and  momentarily  expected  to  be  arrested. 
Because  Mrs.  Lewis  had  discovered  this,  and  Mrs. 
Lewis  had  discovered  that,  and  things  yet  unknown 
and  too  dreadful  to  be  breathed. 

Poor  Mary  did  not  escape.  The  trouble  had  begun 
when  Gardiner  found  out  she  had  another  lover  for 
two  years  ;  and  Jim  had  thrown  her  on  that  account, 
and  Paddleford  had  been  trapped  into  taking  her. 
But,  as  this  rendering  was  hardly  satisfactory,  it  was 
said  that  she  had  been  indulging  with  a  flirtation 
with  Paddleford  for  a  year,  and  that  the  night  before 
the  assault  Jim  had  discovered  them  in  a  delicate 
position,  but  would  not  punish  him  then  and  there, 
because  of  the  presence  of  a  lady,  but  had  warned 
him  he  would  kill  him  the  next  time  lie  met  him,  no 
matter  when  or  where  it  might  be.  And  the  people 
said  she  must  be  an  artful  girl  to  manage  the  thing  so 
nicely  as  to  keep  both  Jim  and  Tom  in  the  dark  so 
long. 

All  this  time  Paddleford  was  at  home,  in  bed, 
covered  with  vinegar  and  brown  paper,  a  varied  as- 


JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   TROUBLE.  83 

sortment  of  welts  and  bruises  from  head  to  foot,  out 
of  which  he  breathed  threatening  and  curses,  like  a 
little  demon,  at  James  Gardiner  and  all  that  con 
cerned  him.  He  was  equally  indignant  at  Mary 
Lewis,  as  he  would  not  have  been  in  this  awkward 
and  ridiculous  position  but  for  her ;  and  he  swore  great 
oaths  that  he  would  get  even  with  Jim  Gardiner  yet. 
Not  by  meeting  him  in  any  way  face  to  face  —  that 
he  never  thought  of ;  but  lie  lay  in  his  bed  and  devised 
schemes  for  mean  vengeance  ;  and,  to  do  him  justice, 
never  was  a  man  better  fitted  for  such  work. 

As  for  Gardiner,  it  was  the  end  of  all  his  hopes. 
Of  course,  he  could  never  get  near  Mary  Lewis  again  ; 
and,  to  tell  the  truth,  in  a  sick,  despairing  way,  he 
had  ceased  to  care.  He  resigned  himself  to  his  fate 
as  best  he  could ;  and  in  a  manful  sort  of  way  tried  to 
accustom  himself  to  the  thought  of  seeing  the  girl  he 
loved  the  wife  of  another  man. 

Mrs.  Lewis  acted  in  the  premises  very  promptly. 
She  announced,  without  more  delay,  the  coming  mar 
riage  of  her  daughter  with  Mr.  Paddleford,  and  took 
vigorous  measures  to  contradict  the  absurd  rumors 
about  her  family.  Mary  had  never  been  any  thing 
more  to  Mr.  Gardiner  than  a  friend,  which  was  to  be 
expected,  as  both  families  were  among  the  oldest  in 
New  Canton.  She  had  engaged  herself  to  Mr.  Pad 
dleford,  as  she  had  a  right  to  do  ;  and  if  Mr.  Gardiner 
took  offense  at  it  he  was  exceeding  all  bounds.  If  he 
was  in  love  with  her  daughter,  he  should  have  made 
it  known  before  she  had  contracted  herself  to  another. 
The  whole  affair  was  a  mystery  to  her,  as  it  was,  she 
presumed  to  every  one  else.  Mr.  Paddleford  was  not 
seriously  injured,  she  was  happy  to  say,  and  would 


84  A   PAPER   CITY. 

not  have  been  at  all  had  he  been  attacked  in  a  manly 
way,  as  men  of  honor  do  such  things.  But  what 
could  he  do  ?  He  was  struck  senseless  before  he  had 
any  opportunity  to  defend  himself.  Would  further 
trouble  grow  out  of  it  ?  She  hoped  not.  She  did  not 
believe  in  brute  force  in  a  Christian  land.  She  had 
exacted  a  promise  from  Mr.  Paddleford  that  he  would 
not  have  recourse  to  violence,  but  would  treat  his  as 
sailant  with  the  silent  contempt  which  his  unmanly 
outrage  deserved. 

And  her  auditors  all  said  "  Certainly  !  "  and  "  To 
be  sure  !  "  and  "  We  knew  it ! "  though  every  one  of 
them  knew  that  every  word  the  good  lady  had  uttered 
was  false,  and  they  knew  that  she  knew  it.  But  in 
New  Canton,  as  elsewhere,  much  stress  is  laid  upon 
that  precept  of  morality  which  declares  that  truth  is 
not  to  be  spoken  at  all  times,  which  some  observe 
so  carefully  as  to  avoid  speaking  it  at  all. 

Mrs.  Lewis  had  many  reasons  for  pushing  the  wed 
ding  with  all  possible  dispatch,  some  of  which  she 
gave  to  the  public  and  some  she  did  not.  She  was  a 
lady  who  knew  just  how  much  to  say  and  just  when 
to  say  it :  and  a  preserve-jar  with  brandy  paper  and 
white  of  egg  over  the  top  was  not  more  close  about 
what  seemed  good  to  keep  to  herself. 


MBS.  BUBT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  85 


CHAPTER     VII. 

MBS.  BUBT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE. 

A/TARIA   BOOBY   was  a  very  pretty  girl  when 
IV A     Charles  Burt  married  her,  fifteen  years  before. 
A  plump,  full-fledged  rustic  beauty,  with  the  fairest 
pink,  white,  and    pearl    compounded   in    her  cheek ; 
quantities  of  brown   hair,  warmed   by  the  sun  to  a 
lovely  shade ;  and  large  brown  eyes,  clear  and  exact 
ing  :  her  face  was  regular  enough  to  be  pretty,  spite 
of  its    calculating,    common-place    expression.      She 
was  a  good  deal  of  a  country  belle,  with  the  acres  of 
the  big  Boody  farm  behind  her,  aided  not  less  by  the 
doors  of  the  ample  "butt'ry"  at  home,  stored  with 
rich  pies   and  cake,  ajar  for  youths  on  courting  bent. 
Those    deep,    generous    pies,   puffy   doughnuts   with 
raisins  in  them,  and  "riz  cake  "  played  no  despicable 
part  in  luring  suitors  for  the  eight  Boody  girls,  with 
their  thick  hair,  full  busts,  and  slim  waists,  and  capa 
bility  for  holding  their  own  with  a  pretty  tight  grip. 
Burt,  then,  a  promising  and  homeless  youth,  was  one 
of  the  first  flies  lured  by  the  sugar,  and  .took  to  him 
self  one  of  the  daughters,  thinking  to  found  for  him 
self  such  a  home  as  she  came  from.     For  fifteen  years 
Mate  Boody  had  done  up  his  shirts  with  wonderful 
precision,  kept  his  house  brightly  clean,  and  stored 


86  A   PAPER   CITY. 

his  shelves  with  flaky  pies  and  custards  that  rivaled 
her  mother's,  was  generous  at  setting  a  table  for  his 
company,  and  managed  to  hold  her  end  of  the  matri 
monial  contract  with  conscious  precision,  —  a  faithful, 
untroubled  creature,  with  not  two  ideas  outside  her 
two  lines  of  being  a  good  housekeeper  and  a  good 
dresser,  and,  as  such,  holding  no  mean  place  in  the 
esteem  of  New  Canton. 

Time,  however,  which   makes   the   prettiest   faces 
carricature  themselves,  had  played  uncivil  tricks  with 
Mate's  face  and  manners.     Any  household  which  finds 
its  living  in  fried  meats  and  rich  gravies,  and  "  never 
can  sit  down  to  table  without  pie,"  to  use  Mrs.  Hurt's 
formula,  shares  the  attentions  of  bilious  attacks  and 
typhoid  fever,  neither  of  which  are  kind  to  hair,  com 
plexion,  or  figure.     Hence  the  doctor  was  more  essen 
tial  to  Mate  Burt  than  her  husband ;  and  her  support 
was  drawn  equally  from  the  "  butt'ry  "  and  medicine- 
chest.    She  was  given  to  "  dull  headaches  "  and  "poor 
spells,"  when  she  took  to  her  bed  and  sipped  ginger- 
tea,  and  declared  she  never  should  want  any  thing 
but  a  nightgown  to  wear  any  more,  and  used  up  gal 
lons  of  cologne,  for  which  she  had  a  penchant,  as  well 
as  for  all  expensive  and  high-flavored  scents.      From 
these  spells  she  always  came  out  revived  and  cheer 
ful,  as  if  she  enjoyed  such  seasons.     But  the  time  had 
passed  when  any  one  would  think  of   calling  her  a 
pretty  woman.     Burt,  whose  natural  bent  was  to  find 
his  own  the  best  of  every  thing,  used  to  mention  her 
"  graceful  carriage  "  to  his  intimates,  and  call  their 
attention  to  the  "  mingled  cordiality  and  dignity  with 
which  she  received  his  friends  ;  "  but  even  the  partial 
husband  did  not   venture  beyond   that.      A  ghastly 


MRS.  BURT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  87 

woman,  wearing  curls,  met  his  guests  at  his  door ; 
and  the  "  mingled  dignity  "  savored  of  stiffness  and 
peremptoriness  to  strangers.  But,  as  she  said,  in  her 
good  humor,  she  had  had  the  use  of  her  good  looks, 
and  that  was  enough. 

The  weather  was  warm  for  spring  ;  and  Mrs.  Burt, 
in  a  loose  wrapper, — in  her  own  phrase,  "looking 
domestic,"  and  feeling,  as  she  also  said,  "  as  if  some 
thing  would  do  her  good,"  —  had  taken  down  her 
medicine-box,  and  was  turning  over  its  stores.  With 
her  sat  a  young  woman,  who  held  an  anomalous  posi 
tion  in  the  Burt  household,  as  she  was  on  a  footing 
with  the  family,  and  certainly  not  a  useless  com 
panion.  In  New  Canton  phrase,  which  hit  the  me 
dium  neatly,  she  was  "keeping  house  for  Mrs.  Burt." 
That,  in  contradistinction  to  the  term,  "  working 
out,"  implied  both  independence  and  responsibility, 
as  well  as  actual  service.  Most  people  would  have 
thought  Mrs.  Burt  uncommonly  favored  in  the  choice 
of  a  housekeeper ;  for  her  companion  was  a  bright 
and  pretty  young  woman,  who  looked  as  if  she  had 
both  a  wit  and  a  will  of  her  own. 

Mrs.  Burt  declared  herself  "all  out  of  kelter,"  and 
said  she  must  take  something  for  the  blood. 

"What  are  you  going  to  take?"  asked  Emeline, 
from  her  sewing. 

"  I  don't  know.  I'll  see  what  I've  got,"  was  the 
original  answer,  as  Emeline's  mistress  sat  down  to 
sort  over  the  contents  of  a  tin  box,  which  filled  the 
room  with  the  aroma  of  drugs  and  herbs,  — pipsissi- 
way  and  prickly-ash,  rhubarb,  jalap,  and  aloes,  - 
making  a  running  commentary  on  the  unshapen  pa 
pers,  as  she  turned  them  over  affectionately. 


88  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  Epsom  salts.  I  don't  like  to  take  salts,  if  any 
tiling  else  will  do.  They're  so  penetrating.  I've 
known  the  taste  to  get  into  my  system,  and  stay  there 
a  day  or  two.  Mandrake  pills  I'm  afraid  of  —  a  little 
too  griping.  Pulmonic  bitters  taste  good.  Emeline, 
don't  you  sometimes  think  there's  something  the  mat 
ter  with  the  lungs  when  a  person  feels  all  gone  so  ? 
Or  is  it  all  stomach  ?  " 

"  I  should  think  something  was  gone.  It  might 
be  the  stomach,  or  it  might  be  the  dinner,"  was  Erne- 
line's  answer. 

"  Iron  and  calisaya.  I  think  I  must  go  to  taking 
that  again.  I  have  to  leave  off  these  tonics  after  I've 
taken  them  awhile.  They're  too  strengthening.  Just 
give  me  a  spoon,  Emeline.  I'll  take  some  while  I'm 
about  it,  before  I  forget.  If  I  had  a  cold  nose,  now, 
I'd  know  it  was  ague,  and  go  right  to  taking  quinine. 
I  always  feel  as  if  I'd  got  hold  of  something  sure  when 
I  get  to  quinine.  Boneset.  That's  some  of  mother's. 
She  always  has  a  bed  of  it  growing  under  the  fence 
by  the  south-wall  pasture.  Calls  it  her  herb-garden. 
What  quarts  of  it  I've  taken  in  spring.  Time  of  the 
March  plowing,  when  the  sun  began  to  get  hot,  she 
used  to  call  us  in,  and  make  us  drink  hot  boneset  all 
round,  a  good  pint  apiece,  to  clear  the  blood  and  get 
us  in  trim  for  the  house-cleaning.  We  could  just 
raise  a  dust  off  a  clean  floor,  then  !  Powdered  ants." 

"  I've  heard  Solomon  recommended  them,"  Eme 
line  observed,  at  this  juncture  ;  "  but  I  never  knew 
how  he  meant  they  were  to  be  taken.  What's  the 
dose?  Can't  you  see  your  way  clear  to  giving  me 
some  ? " 

Mrs.  Burt  was  not  sure  whether  she  approved  her 


MRS.  BURT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  89 

handmaid's  levity  with  her  sacred  herbs,  and  it  was 
with  repressing  gravity  she  explained :  "  They're  blis 
tering,  like  Spanish  flies.  I  had  them  on  my  chest,  my 
bad  turn,  last  May.  It  was  this  growing  weather  ;  — 
dreadful  opening  to  the  pores,  you  know ;  —  and  I 
slept  with  my  window  open,  took  an  awful  cold,  and 
threatened  lung  fever.  Aunt  Maria  had  been  com 
plaining  of  ants  all  the  spring.  They  were  just  over 
running  her.  When  she  heard  I  was  taken  on  my 
chest,  she  said  she  knew  just  what  them  ants  were 
sent  for ;  and  she  scooped  a  handful,  and  mashed  'em 
up  on  a  plantain-leaf,  and  came  over  with  it  on  her 
hand,  and  clapped  it  on  my  lungs  ;  and  it  drew  beau 
tifully,  just  like  Croton  oil.  Ever  take  Croton  oil, 
Emeline  ?  " 

"  That's  something  I've  always  thought  I  should 
rather  give  than  take,"  said  the  girl,  demurely,  turn 
ing  a  delicate  fell. 

O 

"  Fond  of  giving  folks  something  smart,  aren't 
you  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Burt,  in  one  of  her  tart  moments, 
while  Emeline  busied  herself  with  her  sewing,  as  if 
she  had  not  heard.  "  There's  dill  and  catnip  and 
pennyroyal.  Isn't  pennyroyal  good  for  something  in 
spring  ?  I  always  thought  it  must  be  of  great  use 
some  way,  if  we  only  knew  what,  there's  so  much  of 
it.  Mother  Doble's  Extract.  Oh  !  here's  what  I 
was  so  set  after  all  the  while.  I  couldn't  contrive 
what  had  become  of  it.  It's  excellent  for  summer, 
as  any  thing  I've  got  a  hint  of.  Keeps  the  pores 
open,  and  keeps  one  state  of  health  so  satisfactory." 

"  You  aren't  like  Mis'  Payne,  down  by  the  creek. 
She  says  she  always  enjoys  poor  health ;  but  it's  the 
dosing  and  worrying  to  get  well  takes  the  most  out 
of  her,"  said  Emeline. 


90  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  Mrs.  Payne  is  a  very  respectable  woman,"  said 
Mrs.  Burt,  with  dignity  ;  "  and  I  don't  believe  in  her 
making  such  frivolous  speeches.      I'm  not  one  who 
believes  in  dosing  all  the  time ;  but  I  do  think  if  peo 
ple  would  pay  more  attention  to  their  health  it  would 
be  for  their  advantage.     Daylight  Pills.     When  must 
I  have  taken  them  ?      If  my  memory  preserves  me,  it 
must  have  been  after  New  Year.      I  always  take  a 
big  dose  about  Thanksgiving  ;  and  I  don't  feel  neces 
sitated  to  pay  any  particular  attention  to  what  I  eat, 
like  some  folks.     I  can't  bear  to  see  'em  sit  down  to  a 
good  meal  of  victuals,  and  they  '  can't  eat  this,'  and 
the    other  'don't  agree'  with   them,  showing   disre 
spect  to  the  person  that  asked  them.      I'm  no  great 
eater,  and  none  of  my  family  was,  though  my  father 
never  was  the  man  to  sit  down  to  a  poor  meal  in  his 
own  house.      Now,  after  eating  fat  turkey  and  spare- 
rib  with  sage,  at  Thanksgiving,  I  always  have  a  ris 
ing  in  my  throat  (I  suppose  the  bile  swims  on  top  of 
the  stomach,  till  it's  disposed  of)  ;  and  I  just  take 
four  or  five  pills,  and  feel  as  clear-headed  —  seems  as 
if  I  could  see  daylight  right   through  me.      That's 
what  they're  named  for,  I  suppose  —  Daylight  Pills. 
Then  I  can   eat  buckwheat-cakes  and  sausage  with 
anybody,    till    house^cleaning    time,    without    being 
obliged  to  call  in  a  doctor  for  my  liver,  as  most  do. 
Brandreth's  are  more  searching.     I  like  to  take  a  close 
of  them  after  Thanksgiving  time,  and  again  at  Christ 
mas  ;  but  I  don't  like  to  use  them  quite  so  common 
as  to  lose  the  effect.      I  prefer  the  Daylights  for  ordi 
nary;  they're   such   a   mild,  genteel   pill.      Perhaps 
others  wouldn't  advise  taking  medicine  so  promiscu 
ous;   but  I  say,  why  shouldn't  they  take   it  while 


MRS.  BUKT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  91 

they're  well,  and  get  the  effect  of  it,  and  not  wait  to 
lay  by  and  have  to  give  their  whole  attention  to  it  ? 
There's  most  always  some  hidden  matter  with  them, 
that  the  medicine  is  sure  to  search  out ;  and  I  think 
it's  a  good  thing  to  take  something  ahead." 

"  I  guess  I'll  take  something  ahead,  then,  for  a  bili 
ous  fever ;  for  I  should  mortally  hate  to  have  to  stop 
for  one  by  and  by,"  said  Emeline. 

"  Here's  what  I  shall  have  to  give  you  if  you  ever 
get  any  thing  on  the  nerves  —  lady-slipper.  I  wake 
up  in  the  night,  with  my  nerves  all  giggetting  and 
upset,  feeling  just  as  if  I'd  got  a  call  to  die  before 
morning  ;  and  Mr.  Burt,  he  wakes  up  and  reaches 
right  over  to  the  bureau  for  the  mixture  and  the  cup 
and  spoon,  and  counts  the  drops,  and  I  go  off  to  sleep 
just  as  comfortable.  When  I  go  to  bed,  I  have  every 
thing  ready  I  want  in  the  night  —  the  camphor  and 
lady-slipper,  and  the  mustard  for  hot  drafts,  and  some 
vinegar  and  flour,  and  a  rag  to  spread  it  on,  and  a 
cup  and  spoon,  and  an  alcohol-lamp  to  heat  it  by,  and 
knife  to  spread  it  with,  —  I  don't  neglect  a  single 
thing,  —  and  the  hot-drops  if  I  need  'em,  and  an  ex 
tra  blanket  to  lay  over  the  bed  if  it  turns  cool  in  the 
night,  and  my  double  gown  in  case  of  fire.  I  believe 
in  being  prepared.  Don't  the  Bible  say,  '  Be  ye  also 
ready'?" 

"  That's  a  good  verse  to  follow,"  said  Emeline,  this 
time  wickedly.      "  I  try  to  be  always  prepared,  espe-  ' 
cially  if  it's  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  good  luck." 

"  How  you  do  run  off  the  track,"  said  Mrs.  Burt, 
impatiently,  taking  up  the  conversation.  "But  I 
don't  have  to  doctor  as  I  used  to.  When  I  was  first 
married,  I  had  no  health  at  all;  and,  the  first  two 


92  A  PAPER   CITY. 

years,  the  doctor's  bills  run  up  to  three  hundred  dol 
lars.  I  saw  'twas  going  to  take  the  profits  off ;  and  I 
got  Gunn's  c  Domestic  Medicine,'  and  I  studied  it. 
There's  more  in  taking  care  of  yourself  than  folks 
give  in  to.  The  first  thing  in  the  morning,  when  I 
wake  up,  I  take  a  peristaltic  lozenge  in  my  mouth,  to 
get  the  acid  out  of  my  stomach,  and  a  swallow  of  iron 
and  strychnia  after  breakfast.  All  that  ever  I  could 
find  do  any  good  before  eating  was  to  chew  a  piece 
of  salt  codfish  'fore  breakfast,  to  give  an  appetite  ;  or, 
in  hot  weather,  a  dose  of  tanzy  bitters.  When  I  was 
doing  my  own  work,  I  kept  the  pitcher  of  herb  tea  in 
the  cupboard,  where  I  could  drink  a  sip  handy ;  and 
I  wear  red  flannel  winter  and  summer,  'count  of  that 
neuralgia  I  thought  was  coming  on  the  winter  Mr. 
Burt  was  so  near  losing  his  property." 

"  I  didn't  know  that  could  happen  to  such  well-off 
folks  as  you,"  said  Emeline,  interested. 

"  Oh  !  I  won't  pretend  to  say  that  some  folks  would 
have  held  it  any  great  of  a  loss ;  but  he  had  some 
mortgages  at  twelve  per  cent.,  and,  come  to  find  out, 
there  was  a  claim  never  been  settled,  against  the  es 
tate  ;  and  the  equity  court  gave  judgment  against 
the  holder,  and  made  our  mortgage  only  a  second  one. 
I  declare,  Mr.  Burt  didn't  see  his  way  to  making  a 
cent  out  of  it,  and  'twas  much  as  ever  if  he  got  the 
principal  back  again  ;  and  I  was  so  worked  up  I  didn't 
sleep  a  wink  for  a  week,  and  didn't  get  over  it  for  a 
month.  It  was  all  of  eight  hundred  dollars  Mr.  Burt 
had  left  him  by  an  old  uncle  he  never  expected  to  get 
a  cent  from ;  and  he'd  salted  it  down  for  me,  in  case 
any  thing  ever  happened." 

"  It  was  pretty  hard  to  have  all  you  had  put  in  dan 
ger  so,"  said  Emeline,  sympathizingly. 


MRS.  HURT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  93 

^ "  Oh  !  'twasn't  to  say  all't  we  had.  I  don't  suppose 
it'd  made  any  considerable  difference  ;  but  it  was  los 
ing  money,  don't  you  see  ?  It'd  been  a  thousand  dol 
lars  in  another  year,  compound  interest ;  but  we  had 
to  take  six  per  cent,  to  get  any  thing,  and  the  mort 
gage  was  lifted  at  the  sale.  It  seems  as  if  people  had 
a  grudge  against  allowing  those  that  have  money  to 
make  any  thing  by  it.  I  wanted  to  settle  it  by  law; 
but  Mr.  Burt  said  that  it  wasn't  worth  throwing  good 
money  after  bad.  Well,  as  I  was  saying,  when  you 
interrupted  me,  lying  awake  nights  and  having  that 
loss  on  my  nerves,  upset  me,  so  I  had  my  face  bound 
up  most  of  the  time.  Now  1  wear  flannel,  and  keep 
a  little  bunch  of  sweet  balm  next  my  skin,  and  I  don't 
feel  it  any  more." 

To  say  that  Mrs.  Charles  Burt  was  a  strong-minded 
woman  would  be  a  faint  expression.  Her  strength 
of  character  showed  itself,  not  in  shrieking  after  privi 
leges,  which  she  would  not  know  what  to  do  with  if 
she  had  them,  or  in  craving  for  knowledge  that  would 
be  of  no  use  to  her  if  she  got  it ;  but  in  keeping  a  firm 

hold  over  her  feelings  and  those  of  everybody  else, 

in  getting  what  she  wanted,  quietly  and  irresistibly ; 
and  doing  favors  for  her  friends,  for  which  she  exacted 
full  credit  and  return.  Mrs.  Burt  did  not  scold,  or 
turn  things.  She  just  gave  them  a  push,  when  they 
worked  her  way,  where  she  wanted,  and  brought  no 
arguments  to  bear  save  her  own  irreproachable  per 
formance  of  duty  and  the  absolute  impossibility  of 
ignoring  her  claims.  She  was  calm,  -  when  money 
was  out  of  the  question,  -bright,  even,  and  rather  a 
witty  woman  in  her  way;  at  least,  she  had  the  repu 
tation  of  being  the  bright  one  of  the  family.  In  her 


94 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


inmost  soul  she  did  think  highly  of  Charles  Biirt  as 
her  husband,  and  as  secretly  held  the  belief  that  the 
best  of  the  world  was  always  to  be  found  in  the  Boody 
family  and  such  males  as  had  the  advantage  to  be  con 
nected  with  them  by  marriage.  On  the  faculty  and 
wit  of  her  sisters-in-law  she  reserved  her  opinion. 

Though  her  person  had  not  the  charms  which  made 
her  attractive  in  youth,  it  developed  others,  not  always 
found  in  a  lady  of  forty  odd.     She  wore   a  pad  of 
hops  on  her  waist;  and  to  her  inner  vestment  the  year 
round  clung  a  faint  odor  of  poultices  and  herbs,  as  it 
would  to  a  garret-rafter.     Whoever  was  fond  of  the 
odor  of  musk  lozenges,  or  the  pungent  oil  of  spear 
mint,  or  the    dreaded   bitter  of  picra   and   rhubarb, 
would  find  attraction  in  her  presence,  but  hardly  oth 
erwise.     She  would  take  chicken-broth  for  the  colic, 
or  Croton  oil  for  any  other  dissipation  of  the  interior 
organs,  with  equal  indifference.     Health  was  her  great 
object,  she  said ;  and  she  sedulously  studied  to  build 
up  her  tabernacle  of  the  flesh.     The  young  druggist 
never  failed  to  send  her  word  of  any  new  medicines  he 
might  receive  ;  and  she  had  shown  a  ready  spirit  in 
trying,  at  his  recommendation,  Eucalyptus  and  Vine 
gar  Bitters,  Tarrant's  Seltzer,  and  Winchester's  Hy- 
pophosphites,  Nichol's  Bark  and  Iron,  somebody  else's 
steel,  port  wine,  and   beef-tea,  with    "  liquid   light 
ning,"  fever-and-ague   pads,  patent   shoulder-braces, 
and  magnetic  soles.     She  used  medicines  without  pre 
judice.     If  an   alterative  wouldn't   do,  an  astringent 
would.     Castor  oil,  jalap,  senna,  podophyllin,  and  dan 
delion-root  stood  for  the  same  thing  in  her  dispensa 
tory;  and,  if  she  couldn't  get  calomel,  she  took  as 
contentedly  a  double  portion  of  cream  of  tartar. 


MBS.  BTJRT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  95 

The  drugs  and  herbs  duly  disappeared  before  tea- 
time,  but  not  the  obnoxious  odors,  which  remained  to 
dismay  Mr.  Burt's  overkeen  senses.  "You've  been 
having  an  herb-bee,  I  should  think,"  he  observed, 
mildly,  on  opening  the  door. 

"  The  things  hadn't  been  looked  over  in  the  medi 
cine-closet  since  last  fall ;  and  I  do  hate  to  see  medi 
cines  go  to  waste  when  they  cost  so  much." 

Which  was  all  so  proper  that  no  fault  was  to  be 
found  with  it. 

"  Seems  to  me  the  house  might  be  aired  a  little 
more  before  we  sit  down  to  supper,"  Mr.  Burt  ven 
tured  to  say. 

"  Certainly.  Emeline,  put  up  the  window.  Did 
you  ask  Bateman  if  that  tonic  phosphate  had  come 
yet  ?  " 

"  No,  I  forgot  it.  Things  went  wretchedly  to-day 
at  the  Office.  People  won't  buy,  and  you  can't  make 


'em." 


"  Why,  the  paper  said  you  sold  several  lots  this 
week,"  said  his  wife. 

"  Humph  !  "  was  the  gracious  answer  to  this  obser 
vation.  Mr.  Burt  did  not  confide  his  business  affairs 
to  his  wife,  any  more  than  a  great  many  other  good 
husbands  do  ;  and  she  was  just  as  wise  as  other  people 
outside  of  the  land  company. 

"  It's  a  pity  Chicago  people  with  money  won't  come 
in  and  buy,"  said  Emeline,  thoughtfully,  as  she  served 
the  canned  peaches. 

"  What  interest  have  you  in  it  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Burt, 
looking  at  her  coldly,  but  with  natural  surprise. 

"  They  say  there's  going  to  be  a  town  library  as 
soon  as  they  can  afford  it,"  said  the  discreet  young 


96  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

woman;  "  and  I  should  like  to  take  books  out  just  as 
soon  as  convenient.  Can't  you  hire  somebody  to  start 
the  bidding,  as  they  do  at  auctions,"  she  said,  glancing 
mischievously  at  Mr.  Burt. 

Mrs.  Burt  observed,  in  a  negative  tone,  that  "  New 
Canton  had  more  important  business  than  getting  a 
library  for  young  folks  to  take  novels  out  of,"  which 
Emeline  heard  with  indifference. 

"  Find  me  somebody  to  start  the  bidding,  Emeline, 
and  half  a  dozen  men  who  believe  in  New  Canton  as 
you  do,  and  you'll  make  my  fortune  and  yours,  too," 
said  Mr.  Burt,  carelessly  throwing  half  a  glance 
toward  her  side  of  the  table,  at  which  he  sat,  in  the 
fashion  of  prudent  Canton  husbands,  with  a  shoulder 
turned  to  any  woman  except  his  own  wife. 

"  Faith  comes  by  hearing,"  said  the  pretty  house 
keeper,  lightly.  "  If  one  Canton  man  hears  his 
neighbor  has  bought  a  lot,  he  will  buy  one,  if  he 
mortgages  his  house  to  do  it.  What  one  does  the  rest 
do.  You  haven't  lived  in  New  Canton  long  enough 
to  find  that  out,"  she  concluded,  demurely. 

"  Maria,  you  always  have  an  idea  worth  listening 
to,"  said  her  husband,  turning  deferentially  to  that 
lady,  and  putting  the  nicest  slice  of  hot  toast  for  her 
plate. 

Mrs.  Burt's  manner  showed  that  she  had  considered 
her  husband  and  handmaid  had  been  allowed  suffi 
ciently  to  indulge  in  topics  of  their  own  choosing. 
She  turned  to  the  former  with  an  air  of  renewing  ra 
tional  conversation. 

"  Caroline  Spencer  is  back  from  Chicago." 

No  response  to  this  news. 

"  She  brought  back  Miss  Caddie  Kinsley,  her  friend, 


MBS.  BURT'S  HUSBAND'S  VIFE.  97 

from  Wabash  Avenue!"  impressively,  to  call  attention 
to  the  important  announcement.  "She  belongs  to 
the  very  best  society  there.  Carrie  has  invited  her 
friends  to  call  to  meet  Miss  Kinsley  expressly  on 
Thursday,  so  that  she  will  not  feel  obliged  to  see  those 
who  come  on  any  other  day." 

"  Confound  Carrie  Spencer  for  aping  high  airs.  I 
suppose  you  intend  to  trot  out,  then,  in  your  silver- 
plated  harness."  Mr.  Burt  had  this  playful  mode  of 
alluding  to  his  wife's  best  toilet. 

"  Of  course  !"  with  dignity  and  a  fashionable  air, 
happily  suiting  the  topic.  «  I  shouldn't  think  of 
hurting  dear  Carrie's  feelings  by  not  going;  and  it 
wouldn't  do  to  refuse  Mrs.  Spencer." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  you  women  must  have  that  sort 
of  thing,"  said  Mr.  Burt.  "  I  wish,  though,  I  could 
see  any  hope  of  things  getting  along  faster  in  busi 
ness.  If  Condit  could  only  be  got  to  take  that  plot 
for  a  factory,  you  could  have  the  rooms  furnished  just 
as  you  want  them.  Isn't  sister  Laura  coming,  as  we 
expected  ?  We  could  put  her  in  the  best  chamber." 
"  She  will  have  to  bring  her  husband's  sister  with 
her ;  and  I'm  not  going  to  stir  up  the  best  chamber  for 
any  such  company.  Delia  Vance  never  has  been  used 
to  any  thing  ;  and  I  won't  have  her  spattering  my  wall- 
tidy  and  lopping  down  on  the  Marseilles  you  gave 
twelve  dollars  for." 

"  Laura  won't  like  it ;  she  is  dreadfully  sensitive  if 
any  of  William's  folks  are  slighted." 

•'  I  don't  care.  I'm  not  going  to  fix  up  my  best 
things  and  have  them  used  for  folks  there  is  no  induce 
ment  to  treat  so." 

"  Have  it   your   own  \vay.     I  don't   see   but  the 

7 


98  A  PAPER  CITY. 

Vance  girl  is  nice  enough  for  anybody's  best  room. 
The  Vances  always  had  things  very  neat  and  tasty 
when  I  was  there." 

"  Yes ;  but  they  had  no  more  idea  of  style  than 
you  could  put  in  one  eye.  Laura  says  the  Vance 
girls  would  just  as  soon  be  caught  in  a  calico  dress  af 
ternoons  as  not.  She  had  all  she  could  do  the  last 
time  Delia  was  staying  with  her  to  make  her  put  on 
her  black  alpaca.  The  girl  said  she  didn't  see  that  a 
clean  calico  wasn't  as  good  as  an  alpaca,  any 
day.  To  have  no  more  feeling  for  dress  than  that 
shows  a  dreadful  common  way  of  looking  at  things." 
"  Gardiner  came  round  with  a  long  face  to-day. 
Was  afraid  he  couldn't  lift  that  paper  for  us  next 
week,  if  he  didn't  hear  better  news  from  New  York. 
I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  go  up  to  Chicago  and  shin 
round  for  some  money  next  week  among  those  fellows  ; 
and  they're  harder  to  deal  with  than  rocks." 

"  Isn't  there  any  way  to  interest  the  Chicago  men 
in  New  Canton,  so  that  —  " 

There  was  an  interest  in  Emeline's  tone  that 
sounded  pleasantly  to  the  overworked  man.  But  the 
"harsh  voice  of  Mrs.  Burt  interrupted  her  in  the  mid 
dle  of  her  sentence. 

"  Did  he  say  whether  Mrs.  Gardiner  was  home 
from  Chicago  yet?  "  said  Mrs.  Burt.  "  I  want  to  get 
the  pattern  of  her  polonaise  —  she  is  always  so 
obliging  about  any  such  thing  ;  and  she  always  brings 
home  some  new  idea.  I  declare,  I  think  she  is  the 
only  woman  in  town  who  has  the  least  notion  of  what 
style  is." 

"  You  will  want  your  new  flannel  shirts,  won't  you, 
if  you  go  to  town?"  asked  Emeline's  soft  voice. 


MKS.  HURT'S  HUSBAND'S  WIFE.  99 

"You  took  such  a  cold  the   last  time,  in   the   lake 
winds.     I  can  hurry  them  up  before  you  go." 

Mr.  Burt,  with  all  expression  banished  from  his 
face,  was  looking  at  his  wife,  with  her  spotless  ruffles, 
the  gold  chain  about  her  skinny  neck,  the  chatter  in 
her  lips,  and  made  absent  answer,  as  he  took  up  his 
paper.  He  was  wondering  if  this  was  all  the  sym 
pathy  a  man  was  to  expect  from  a  wife.  She  served 
him  well  in  practical  matters,  but  somehow  he  wanted 
more  than  this.  What,  he  could  not  say  ;  and  she  would 
have  called  it  foolish  if  he  had  said  it.  Or,  if  she 
petted  him  with  those  fingers  that  were  used  to  hold 
things  in  so  firm  a  grip,  he  felt  as  if  it  would  not  suit 
him  ;  and  the  voice  of  the  hired  servant  in  their  house 
fell  pleasantly  on  his  ear.  There  was  something  of 
human  kindness  and  warmth  in  her  tones,  clear  from 
the  trivial  interest  and  self-seeking  he  had  been  treated 
to  all  his  life  from  other  women.  If  Mate  only  had 
known  how  to  give  him  the  kindness  he  craved  like  a 
schoolboy  just  then  ! 

Fifteen  years,  he  recollected,  he  had  walked  with 
this  woman  without  a  heart  —  a  woman  who  could 
say  pretty,  silly  things,  and  call  him  darling  in  the 
same  tone  in  which  she  asked  for  more  of  that  dump 
ling.  As  other  wives  did  when  they  felt  it  part  of 
their  matrimonial  policy  to  be  tender,  with  an  eye  on 
the  main  chance,  she  could  give  him  kisses  that  felt  as 
if  his  lips  had  been  touched  with  flannel ;  of  all 
which  just  then  he  felt  mortally  tired. 

" 1  guess  I'll  run  across  the  road,  and  sit  awhile 
with  Mrs.  Beers,"  said  his  wife.  "  Mr.  Burt  is  so 
wrapped  up  in  his  newspaper,  and  he  never  was  much 
of  a  hand  to  talk,  anyhow." 


100  A  PAPER   CITY. 

And  with  her  mind  full  of  polonaises,  the  Spencers, 
the  Vances,  and  similar  matters  of  importance,  she 
left  her  husband  with  the  housekeeper. 

Not  much  of  a  hand  to  talk?  She  should  have 
heard  him  talk  to  Emeline.  For  Emeline  talked  to 
him  of  matters  in  which  his  soul  was  wrapped ;  and, 
if  she  was  not  well-informed,  she,  at  least,  felt  an  in 
terest  in  them,  and  sympathized  with  the  man  who 
was  carrying  such  a  load  and  carrying  it  alone. 

When  Mrs.  Burt  came  back,  she  wondered  if  they 
had  been  sitting  in  dead  silence  all  the  evening  as 
she  found  them. 


A  WEDDING   COUNCIL.  101 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

A   WEDDING   COUNCIL. 

A  MAN  isn't  married  but  once  in  his  life,"  said 
-LJL     the  bridegroom-expectant,  as  his  mother-in- 
law  desired  his  opinion  on  the  form  with  which  his 
nuptials  should  be  celebrated. 

"  Not  rightly  speaking,  he  isn't,"  said  that  bland 
being,  more  intent  on  diplomacy  than  correctness. 
"  If  ever  he  wants  things  to  suit  him,  it's  then.  And, 
if  you  have  any  preference  for  a  private  wedding,  to 
be  more  exclusive  about  the  invitations,  and  have 
Mary  more  to  yourself  from  the  first,  why,  we  would 
fall  in  with  the  idea  willingly." 

"  A  private  wedding  is  well  enough  when  people 
are  going  to  cut  a  swell  away  from  home,"  said  Mr. 
Paddleford.  "  But  I  don't  see  that  young  folks  with 
our  prospects  need  to  get  married  behind  the  door. 
A  private  wedding's  the  right  thing  when  a  fellow 
expects  to  put  all  his  money  on  a  showy  trip,  and 
shine  at  the  big  hotels.  But  I  don't  see  the  need.  A 
fellow  comes  home  feeling  poor  for  a  month  after 
ward  ! "  said  this  veteran,  who  talked  as  if  he  had 
been  married  a  dozen  times.  "  I  don't  want  to  begin 
like  that.  It  isn't  in  my  way.  But,  if  Mary  feels 
as  if  it  is  the  proper  thing  to  have  a  trip,  why,  I'm 
agreeable.'' 


102  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  Then  you'd  prefer  more  of  a  demonstration  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Lewis,  finding  her  efforts  to  avoid  giving 
a  large  party  confronted  by  the  dread  of  giving  offense 
to  her  prospective  son-in-law. 

"I'm  for  having  a  good  time,"  said  Mr.  Tom. 
"But  I  don't  want  to  take  the  responsibility  on  me. 
You  know  how  a  man  likes  to  have  his  friends  treated 
at  his  wedding ;  and  I'd  rather  you'd  carry  out  your 
own  ideas.  A  man  don't  feel  called  on  to  interfere  in 
such  a  matter.  The  next  party  we  give,  Mrs.  Lewis, 
things  will  be  different,"  he  ended,  with  a  smile,  meant 
to  be  engaging. 

"  Suppose  you  speak  to  Mary  about  it,  and  you  can 
arrange  it  to  suit  yourselves,"  suggested  Mrs.  Lewis, 
as  a  last  hope. 

"If  Mary  wants  atrip,  you'd  have  no  hesitation  in 
letting  me  know,"  said  Tom,  with  a  pre-engaged  air. 
"  I  wasn't   thinking  of  seeing  her  this  morning  :    it 
would  keep  me  too  long.      And  I  don't  want  her  to 
get  tired  of  me,  while  she  might  lose  me,  you  know," 
with  another  of  those  smiles  that  would  be  charming 
if  they  were  only  entirely  different.      "I'll  leave  the 
matter  to  you ;  and  I  guess  Tom  Paddleford's  wed 
ding   won't  be   the   slowest   one  ever  seen,  neither. 
Good-morning."     And  the  young  man  went  down  the 
steps  jauntily,  with  a  sense  of  having  put  his  mother- 
in-law  on  her  mettle  and  checkmated  her  evident  wish 
to  get  out  of  giving  him  a  party.     Going  to  beat  him 
out  of  his  wedding  party,  and  the  only  time  he  was 
likely  to  get  married  and  have  a  wedding  in  his  life  ! 

This  consultation  took  place  within  a  few  days  after 
the  note  had  been  sent  which  quenched  James  Gardi 
ner's  hopes  and  bound  Mary  Lewis  to  the  man  she 


A  WEDDING    COUNCIL.  103 

detested.  When  it  ended,  the  mother  went  in  search 
of  her  daughter  ;  and  was  rewarded  by  finding  her  in 
her  own  room,  upstairs,  white,  and  drenched  with 
tears,  and  apparently  sodden  with  crying. 

"Mary,  don't  look  so  downcast,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis, 
with  real  concern  at  the  sadness  of  her  daughter,  now 
that  she  was  sure  of  her  own  way.  "  Your  mother 
lias  seen  more  of  life  than  you  have,  and  knows  what 
will  make  you  happiest  in  the  end.  And  she  is  sure 
you  have  chosen  wisely." 
"  Chosen  !  "  thought  Mary. 

"  You  have  the  man  half  the  girls  in  town  are  wild 
to  get  for  a  husband ;  and  he  is  dead  in  love  with 
you." 

This  consoling  idea  made  Mary's  flesh  creep. 
"You  fancy  you  have  a  preference  for  another 
man  ;  but  you  don't  know  how  soon  that  wears  off. 
As  far  as  love  is  concerned,  one  man  is  as  good  as 
another  a  year  after  a  woman  marries  him.  The  best 
husband  is  the  one  who  can  keep  you  best.  Mr.  Pad- 
dleford  can  give  you  any  thing  you  want ;  and,  if  you 
know  how  to  keep  up  your  influence  with  him,  you 
can  make  him  do  any  thing.  I'm  going  to  give  you  a 
wedding  that  will  be  something  to  think  of  all  your 
life.  I  never  had  any  wedding,  to  speak  of.  My 
mother  died  three  weeks  before  I  was  married  ;  and  I 
wanted  the  wedding  put  off  a  year,  but  your  father 
wouldn't  hear  of  it.  He  said  that  I  needed  his  care 
then,  if  I  ever  did  ;  and,  though  it  wasn't  what  I  in 
tended,  I  didn't  feel  like  disputing  any  thing,  and  I 
let  him  have  his  own  way  that  time." 

"  It  was  the  last  time,"  thought  Mary.      "  Mother, 
if  you  care  a  thing  for  me,  have  it  just  as  plain  as  you 


104  A   PAPER   CITY. 

can.  I  sha'n't  care  for  any  thing.  I  wish  I  could 
marry  Tom  Paddleford  and  be  dead  before  he  laid  a 
hand  on  me.  I  do." 

"  Mary,  I  am  ashamed  of  you !  As  good  as  mar 
ried  to  a  man  who  worships  you,  and  you  talk  in  that 
sinful  manner.  I  wouldn't  have  your  father  hear  you 
for  the  world.  What  reason  have  you  to  abuse  Mr. 
Paddleford  ?  He  isn't  to  blame  for  your  having  a  first 
attachment  and  its  being  unfortunate.  It  isn't  every 
man  loves  a  woman  so  he  would  come  near  her  after 
he  knew  of  a  prior  engagement.  And  you  may  thank 
your  mother  for  bringing  you  up,  or  there  wouldn't 
be  any  second  choice  for  you  to  put  on  airs  about. 
Most  girls  take  the  first  man  who  offers,  and  are 
thankful  to  get  him.  Your  mother  knows  what's 
best  for  you,  my  child." 

This  said,  Mrs.  Lewis  took  out  a  genteel  Russia- 
leather  portfolio,  with  ornate  gilt  lock,  drew  out  a 
mother-of-pearl  pen,  that  looked  as  if  it  was  designed 
only  for  very  elegant  correspondence  indeed,  and  be 
gan  writing  with  the  serious  brow  of  a  secretary  of 
state.  Mary  stole  off  to  her  own  room,  to  fall  down 
on  her  bed,  cover  her  face  with  her  hands,  and  think. 

She  had  signed  herself  away.  She  refused  to  take 
it  so,  just  yet.  Something  might  —  it  would,  surely 
—  happen  to  prevent  this  horrible,  unnatural  thing 
she  had  been  crowded  into. 

Mrs.  Tom  Paddleford !  She  shuddered  at  the 
word.  Instead  of  living  care  free,  a  happy,  girlish 
life,  it  meant  staying  at  home  all  day,  and  receiving 
Tom  Paddleford  at  dinner,  and  riding  out  with  him 
in  his  spruce  phaeton,  in  one  of  her  wedding  dresses, 
as  she  saw  other  young  brides  doing,  very  sober  and 


A  WEDDING   COUNCIL.  105 

still,  and  not  as  if  it  were  the  most  agreeable  perform 
ance  they  were  submitting  to.  She  remembered  how 
one  young  married  man  had  made  fun  for  his  friends 
by  describing  how  he  and  his  bride  made  out  together. 
"  Ju  and  I  have  the  best  times  ever  was,"  he  would 
say,  in  an  impartial  way.  "  We  haven't  had  but  three 
fights  a  week  yet."  This  when  they  were  married 
a  fortnight,  and  just  back  from  their  wedding  tour. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  have  tiffs  with  some  one  you 
were  fond  of,  so  that  you  could  afford  to  differ  and 
make  it  up.  There  would  be  something  sweet  in 
making  allowance  for  the  little  rough  tempers  and 
foibles  which,  she  thought,  made  life  more  tender  for 
having  to  forgive.  But  if  she  were  bound  and  de 
livered  to  Tom  Paddleford  !  She  shrank  and  shiv 
ered  at  the  thought.  She  could  never  call  this  new 
man  she  was  to  love,  honor,  and  obey,  "  Tom."  He 
would  always  be  "  Mr.  Paddleford  "  to  her,  just  as 
other  loveless  wives  called  their  husbands  Mr.  Brown 
or  Mr.  Doolittle.  She  supposed  he  would  be  fond  of 
her.  It  was  understood  that  he  was  madly  in  love 
with  her ;  and  she,  in  a  blind,  cold  way,  was  willing 
to  take  the  benefit  of  his  passion.  She  would  let  him 
be  good  in  all  sorts  of  ways  to  her,  while  she  endured 
to  be  loved  and  worshipped  in  return.  She  was  will 
ing  he  should  devote  himself  entirely  to  her  ;  while 
all  the  return  she  was  to  make  was  to  endure  him. 
Such  is  the  just  and  equal  division  which  girls  are 
willing  to  accept  in  life. 

Between  these  thoughts  would  come  the  face  of 
James  Gardiner,  pale  with  suffering,  as  she  had  seen 
it  last.  But  she  dwelt  upon  it  no  longer.  The  honor 
of  a  delicate  girl  rose  between  her  and  the  old  love  ; 


106 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


and  she  shrank  from  the  one  thing  that  could  disturb 
her  peace.  She  would  forget  James  till  she  could 
look  upon  him  like  any  other  acquaintance.  Her 
thoughts  turned  to  the  coming  days ;  and  she  won 
dered  if  she  belonged  to  Mr.  Thomas  Paddleford 
now,  and  how  soon  he  would  be  privileged  to  put  his 
arm  around  her  waist,  and  call  her  by  her  Christian 
name,  and  mention  her  as  "my  wife." 

Well,  she  thought  she  could  endure  it.  Very  many, 
indeed,  most  of  her  respectable  lady  acquaintances, 
told  her  that  they  did  riot  love  their  husbands  when 
they  married  them.  They  accepted  those  gentlemen 
to  please  their  families,  or  because  they  were  pointed 
out  as  good  matches;  and  they  were  now  contented, 
and  ready  to  tell  every  girl  that  she  did  not  know 
what  happiness  was  till  she  was  married  safely.  After 
all,  it  was  only  one  of  the  necessities  of  life,  like  being 
sick,  and  meeting  accidents,  and  dying.  Oh!  if  it 
was  only  all  over,  the  last  bed,  and  death  — 

"  Mary ! "  called  her  mother  from  her  room.  "  What 
is  Mrs.  File's  first  name  ?  " 

"  Frances.  Why,  what  are  you  writing  to  her 
about?  I  didn't  know  you  and  she  ever  wrote." 

"  She's  one  of  the  best  people  in  this  town  ;  and  I'm 
going  to  have  her  here,  if  I  have  to  leave  out  a  dozen 
others." 

"  Why,  mother  ;  what  are  you  about? "  asked  Mary, 
turning  red,  and  feeling  as  if  called  to  life  by  un 
pleasant  cold  water. 

"  Making  out  the  list  of  invitations  to  your  wed 
ding.     I    suppose   you   know  they  must  be  out  two 
weeks,  and  there's  barely  time  to  send  them  round." 
Mary  put  both  her  hands  to  her  face,  with  a  shock 


A   WEDDING    COUNCIL.  107 

which  surprised  herself.  She  did  not  know  that  she 
could  feel  so  deeply.  She  lay  there,  with  hands  over 
her  eyes,  counting  the  throbs  of  pain,  like  the  pulses 
of  a  wound  that  had  just  begun  ah  aching  never  to 
end. 

Then  it  was  really  true,  and  she  was  going  to  be 
married,  and  there  was  no  help.  Her  mother  was 
writing  the  invitations.  That  little  thing  brought 
her  fate  nearer  than  any  thing  yet  had  done. 

At  this  moment  a  light  breathing  and  a  solid  step 
was  heard  on  the  stairs;  a  white  sunbonnet,  under 
which  shone  a  pair  of  knowing  black  eyes,  was  put  in 
at  the  door,  a  neighborly  voice  cried,  "I  thought  I 
could  find  you.  Why,  you're  serious  as  an  inquiry 
meeting.  Haven't  got  into  the  wrong  house,  have  I  ?  " 

"  Mary  Farrell!  "  cried  Mrs.  Lewis,  in  genuine  re 
lief,  "  you're  one  of  the  scarce  folks  that  never  come 
but  they're  wanted.  I  was  missing  something,  and  I 
believe,  on  my  soul,  it  was  you." 

"  That's  a  relief  to  my  mind.  Some  of  my  neigh 
bors  are  so  little  account  I'm  driven  to  make  myself 
an  infliction  on  the  rest." 

"  If  you  had  waited  ten  minutes  more  I  should 
have  sent  for  you,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis.  "  It  isn't  every 
body  I  can  speak  to  as  I  can  to  you,  Mary." 

Mary  Farrell  wras  a  jolly,  capable  spinster,  who 
lived  with  her  mother  next  to  the  Lewises,  and  had, 
by  summers  and  winters  of  faithful,  shrewd  neighbor 
ing,  deservedly  won  the  trust  from  Mrs.  Lewis  which 
she  withheld  from  her  own  daughter  and  spouse. 
What  would  be  mischief  told  to  Mr.  Lewis  or  Mary, 
with  their  romantic  notions  and  inconsiderate  way  of 
speaking,  was  entirely  safe  with  Mary  Farrell.  So 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


there  was  a  path  across  in  Miss  Fan-ell's  yard,  and  a 
gate  in  the  fence,  through  which  confidential  embas 
sies  went  back  and  forth  at  any  hour  of  the  day.  In 
token  of  perfect  amity,  the  ladies  lent  each  other 
their  preserving-kettles  and  their  cut  glass  for  com 
pany  ;  and  Mary  Farrell  thought  no  more  of  appear 
ing  bonnetless  on  an  errand  at  Mrs.  Lewis's  door  than 
she  did  at  her  own. 

"  I  have  the  greatest  respect  for  Mary  Farrell's 
judgment,"  Mrs.  Lewis  once  said  to  her  husband,  as 
she  tied  her  nightcap  strings.  "  She  always  agrees 
with  me." 

"  Folks  talk  about  Mrs.  Lewis  being  set  in  her 
way,"  Mary  Farrell  said  in  the  early  days  of  their  ac 
quaintance.  "  She  thinks  every  thing  of  her  way,  and 
I  think  every  thing  of  mine,  so  we're  of  a  mind  on 
that  subject."  And  on  these  grounds  the  alliance 
stood  and  flourished. 

"  I  suppose  you  know  we're  going  to  have  a  wed 
ding,"  was  Mrs.  Lewis's  first  formal  announcement  of 
the  fact. 

"  Yes  ;  and,  as  I  haven't  heard  of  you  or  Mr.  Lewis 
getting  a  divorce  lately,  it  must  be  Mary's." 

"I  declare,  Mary  Farrell,"  owned  the  woman  of 
faculty,  "  if  I  didn't  have  your  head  to  look  to,  as 
well  as  my  own,  I  would  hardly  try  to  get  up  a  Avcd- 
ding." 

"That's  not  singular,"  said  the  spinster,  briskly. 
"  You  haven't  lost  a  daughter  before.  What  I  want 
to  know  about  the  match,  before  I  give  my  consent,  is 
whether  you're  going  to  marry  her  off,  or  a  son-in-law 
on?" 

"  I  guess  Mr.  Lewis  and  I  will  require  a  son-in-law 


A   WEDDING    COUNCIL.  109 

who  can  take  care  of  himself.     He  can't  settle  in  our 
spare  room  the  rest  of  his  life." 

"  The  young  man  can  give  security  as  to  that,"  said 
Mary  Farrell,  rubbing  her  nose  delicately  with  her 
forefinger.  "  Well,  I'll  go  right  home  for  my  apron, 
and  come  back  ready  to  work.  I  haven't  helped  at  a 
wedding  for  so  long  I've  forgotten  the  taste  of  wed 
ding  cake.  So  bring  on  your  raisins.  People  are 
never  lawfully  married  unless  they  seed  just  so  many 
raisins.  It's  the  meanest  work  in  creation,  and  I 
never  hear  of  a  wedding  that  I  don't  expect  to  be  sent 
for  to  do  it." 

"  Never  mind  stoning  raisins  just  yet.  What  I 
want  now  is  ideas.  I'd  like  to  do  what's  proper  for 
people  in  our  position,  and  I  don't  want  this  to  be  any 
common  chocolate-cake  wedding,  but  a  nice,  quiet  af 
fair,  such  as  won't  look  strange  to  our  friends  from 
Chicago.  I  want  to  do  all  that  is  expected  from  me, 
Mary  ;  and  you  must  consider  with  me." 

"  Spring  is  the  most  inconsiderate  time  for  getting 
up  a  wedding,"  observed  Mary  Farrell,  briskly. 
"  There's  no  choice  but  ham  and  eggs  ;  and  ham  and 
eggs  aren't  just  the  things  for  a  wedding.  I  don't 
doubt  most  folks  would  enjoy  'em  more  if  they  told 
their  own  minds." 

"  There  are  people  who  haven't  any  more  taste," 
remarked  Mrs.  Lewis,  pensively.  "  When  Bishop 
Findlay  was  here  two  years  ago,  Mr.  Lewis  brought 
him  to  dine  ;  and  I  had  a  ham  boiled  in  port  wine  on 
purpose  for  him,  and  such  ducks  as  you  never  saw,  and 
frogs'  legs  with  a  new  sauce,  I  went  into  the  kitchen 
to  make,  myself,  though  I've  brought,  the  girl  up  my 
self,  and  she  can  do  most  dishes  better  than  I  pretend 


110  A  PAPER   6ITY. 

to,  not  having  my  hand  in.  You  know  the  clergy 
are  generally  men  who  understand  good  living.  But 
if  that  man  didn't  make  his  dinner  off  some  lake 
trout  and  a  potato.  He  never  saw  any  of  the  nice 
things  I  had  taken  so  much  pains  to  get  for  him  ;  and 
I  told  Mr.  Lewis,  afterwards,  '  Don't  you  ever  bring 
that  man  to  dinner  again.'  The  Bishop  was  so  taken 
up  with  some  convention  business  that  morning,  it 
was  as  much  as  ever  he  knew  what  he  had  on  his 
plate.  I  don't  know  as  I  would  want  to  see  a  minis 
ter  think  very  much  about  his  eating,  but  I  do  like 
to  see  him  set  an  example  in  matters  of  taste." 

44  The  looks  are  the  great  thing  about  a  wedding 
supper,"  said  practical  Mary  Fan-ell.  "Silver  and 
frosting  and  flowers,  and  love,  I  suppose,  fills  in." 

"  I  shall  have  plenty  of  salads  and  jellies.  It  is  so 
much  handsomer  to  set  out  plenty  of  relishes  than 
sweets  and  cakes.  All  you  ever  get  at  a  New  Canton 
wedding  is  a  plate  of  ice-cream  and  a  piece  of  cake.'* 

44  I'll  try  that  4  Macedonian '  in  the  church  cook-book 
I  brought  home  from  Chicago  last  winter.  I've  been 
reading  it ;  and  I'm  just  spoiling  to  try  my  hand  at 
some  of  the  things,"  said  Miss  Farrell,  who  reads  re 
ceipts  as  a  composer  reads  music. 

"  Three  dozen  orange  jellies,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis,  loft 
ily,  making  up  her  bill  of  fare  :  4t  as  many  calve's-foot, 
with  wine,  twenty  m'ranys,  and  four  dozen  custards. 
People  know  what  they  are  and  aren't  afraid  to  eat 
them.  But  they're  so  afraid  of  showing  their  ignor 
ance  of  m'rangs  and  chocolate  Eclairs  by  handling 
them,  they'd  rather  go  without." 

44  I  can  make  the  turnip  and  beet-root  flowers  for 
the  cold  meats,"  said  Mary.  44  Brother  Spence's  wife 


A  WEDDING   COUNCIL.  Ill 

showed  me  how  to  do  them  for  her  companies.  Will 
you  have  chocolate  ?  " 

"  I  don't  just  know  whether  it  would  be  the  thing," 
declared  Mrs.  Lewis,  with  gravity  befitting  the  ques 
tion.  "I've  never  heard  of  it,  except  at  lunch. 
Have  you?  Mrs.  Pliny  Smith  has  it  at  her  after 
noons,  I  know.  They  didn't  have  it  when  Mrs.  Sen 
ator  Williams  gave  her  parties." 

"  I  was  at  Mrs.  Wallace  Swayne's  for  an  evening, 
with  Spence's  wife,"  said  Mary,  with  a  touch  of  pride 
at  being  able  to  throw  light  on  a  question  of  elegance. 
"  She  had  five  urns  on  the  sideboard  —  hot  water  and 
coffee,  and  black  and  green  tea,  and  chocolate — and  a 
big  glass  pitcher  for  the  claret,  and  it  did  look  so  rich 
and  particular." 

"  That's  what  I  like  to  see,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis. 
fct  Some  people  hit  on  such  handsome  notions  every 
time.  I  don't  want  to  be  using  other  people's  ways 
all  the  time,  any  more  than  their  towels  and  spoons."' 

"  She  had  hot  soup,  too,  handed  round  in  cups  ;  and 
it  was  beautiful,"  hazarded  Miss  Farrell,  with  an  eye 
to  see  how  the  notion  took. 

t;  I  slia'n't  undertake  to  have  bouillon"  said  Mrs. 
Lewis,  judicially.  "  People  are  not  advanced  enough 
for  that  here  in  Canton.  I  never  should  hear  the  last 
of  having  soup  for  supper." 

"  Shall  I  send  out  to  the  Branch  after  some  eggs 
for  you?  "  asked  Mary,  a  trifle  disappointed.  She  did 
want  to  try  the  effect  of  handing  around  bouillon 
in  china  cups,  and  seeing  the  young  ladies  who  read 
the  magazines  recognize  it. 

"  A  hundred  dozen  if  you  please.  Brandy  and 
lady  cake,  and  jelly  rolls.  Gold  and  silver  cake  are 


A   PAPER   CITY. 

going  out.  All  the  girls  have  got  to  making  them  for 
their  parties.  I'm  sick  of  marble-cake  and  chocolate 
The  first  thing  a  girl  learns  of  cooking,  nowa 
days,  1S  to  make  chocolate  cake.  I'm  goino-  to  have 
some  of  that  real  old-fashioned  black  cake.  I  haven't 
made  any  since  Mr.  Vintou  left  the  church." 

"Are  you  going  to  have  the  cake  in  high  or  low 
dishes  ?  "  said  Mary,  bringing  Mrs.  Lewis  back  to  the 
matter  in  hand. 

"  I  want  to  have  it  all  in  baskets,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis 
while  Mary  Farrell  looked  awe,  at  the  idea  of  such 
brilliance. 

"  I  have  two  baskets,  and  I  can  write  for  Hannah's  • 
and,  if  you'll  lend  me  yours  —  I  want  them  to  go  in 
pairs.  There  is  Mrs.  Burt's,  I  know  she  would  lend 
me  ;  for  she  borrowed  mine  last  New  Year,  when  she 
had  the  family.  I'm  going  to  ask  her  to  let  her  girl 
help  wait  on  the  tables;  and  I'll  get  two  from  the  ho 
tel." 

Just  as  Miss  Farrell  was  leaving  the  room,  a  genteel 
wheezing  was  heard  on  the  stairs ;  and,  with  the  free- 
and-easy  manners  of  New  Canton,  a  lady  walked  in, 
without  knocking.  It  was  one  of  the  privileges  of 
belonging  to  good  society  in  that  delightful  town  that 
one  must  allow  all  one's  friends  to  walk  into  house 
and  bedroom  without  ceremony.  The  visitor  in  this 
case  proved  to  be  Mrs.  Burt,  with  a  knitted  hood 
thrown  over  her  head  and  a  large  house-shawl  in  which 
she  was  wont  to  parade  the  neighborhood  informally. 

A  look,  not  overpleasant,  shot  between  Mrs.  Lewis 
and  Mary  Farrell.  But  the  two  ladies  smoothed  their 
faces  out  politely  by  the  time  Mrs.  Burt's  pink  hood 
was  inside  the  door. 


A   WEDDING    COUNCIL.  113 

"  Good-morning,  Mrs.  Lewis,"  she  said,  with  the  af 
fability  of  a  duchess.  "  I  hope  you  are  as  well  as  you 
look  this  morning.  Miss  Farrell,  how  is  your  mother  ? 
I  haven't  been  able  to  get  in  to  see  her  since  the  pro 
tracted  meeting.  She  was  afraid  then  she  was  going 
to  have  a  felon  on  her  right  finger.  I  inquired  after 
her  three  or  four  times  ;  but  nobody  seemed  able  to 
tell  how  she  got  on." 

"  We  drove  it  off,"  said  Mary  Farrell,  "  with  hot 
carrot  poultices.  I  guess,  after  all,  it  was  nothing 
more  than  she  had  caught  cold  in  her  finger." 

"  Ah  I  that's  fortunate,"  sighed  Mrs.  Burt,  who  al 
ways  put  on  a  languishing  style  in  company,  a  com 
pound  of  elegance  and  Christian  condescension.  "  I 
was  going  to  tell  you  mashed  cranberries  are  good  for 
felon.  We  had  it  in  our  family  several  times,  and  I 
always  found  mashed  cranberries  afford  the  greatest 
relief." 

Mrs.  Lewis  skillfully  introduced  a  diversion. 
"  Mrs.  Burt,  I  am  going  to  tell  you  our  news  first 
one.     You're  not  to  say  an  old  neighbor,  though  you 
have  made  yourself  one  of  us  ;  so  it  seems  as  if  we 
had  known  you  all  your  lives,"  began  the  lady  of  the 
house,  while  Mrs.  Burt  sat  properly  uncomprehending' 
till  the  precise  moment  of  announcement. 

"  We,  of  course,  expect  to  part  with  Mary  sooner 
or  later.  A  mother  makes  up  her  mind  to  it  in  the 
course  of  nature,"  said  Mrs.  Lewis,  with  a  sigh. 
"  My  daughter  is  to  be  married  to  Mr.  Paddleford;  and 
I  hope  we  shall  see  you  and  Mr.  Burt  at  the  wedding." 
The  news  was  received  with  becoming  gravity  and 
interest.  Mrs.  Burt  made  her  congratulations,  not 
quite  able  to  help  saying  that  she  expected  to  hear 
another  name  for  the  gentleman.  (8) 


114  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  Yes,"  Mrs.  Lewis  said,  quietly.  Mary's  name  had 
been  coupled  with  other  gentlemen  ;  but  Mrs.  Burt 
knew  what  all  that  amounted  to.  The  wedding  was 
to  be  in  about  three  weeks.  The  gentleman,  being 
the  son  of  one  of  our  old  townspeople,  and  Mary  not 
going  to  leave  town  to  find  a  home,  she  found  no  good 
reason  for  opposing  the  wishes  of  the  young  people. 
They  had  always  known  each  other,  as  old  Mr.  Pad- 
dleford  had  been,  like  herself  and  Mr.  Lewis,  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  New  Canton.  She  (Mrs.  Lewis) 
knew  all  about  the  young  man,  and  approved  his 
habits,  as  a  steady,  self-respecting  young  business 
man ;  and  she  felt  that  her  daughter  would  be  spared 
many  of  the  trials  which  beset  young  people  who  be 
gan  life  on  small  means.  She  felt  that  a  hard  life  in 
youth  alwa}-s  left  its  traces. 

Mrs.  Burt  was  glad  to  hear  the  young  man  was  so 
well  off.  He  had  a  pretty  fortune  to  call  his  own, 
and,  with  good  investments  —  she  trusted  he  had  the 
foresight  to  make  investments  in  property,  as  business 
had  its  risks — he  might  continue  so.  She  was  glad 
that  he  could  give  his  wife  a  good  home,  to  begin 
with.  It  was  what  she  always  had  been  used  to  her 
self. 

She  had  never  had  the  care  of  a  daughter ;  but,  if 
she  had,  she  should  feel  it  a  great  responsibility  to 
find  her  a  good  husband,  with  high  principles,  liberal 
and  public-spirited,  and,  above  all  things,  good  con 
stitution.  Mr.  Burt  had  the  soundest  health.  Never 
was  sick  a  day,  unless  he  was  taken  down  with  bilious 
fever  or  something  unavoidable.  He  never  had  those 
sick  turns,  up  and  down,  that  some  men  had,  and 
made  it  so  trying  for  their  wives  to  take  care  of  them. 


A  WEDDING  COUNCIL.  115 

She  was  sure  she  and  Mr.  Burt  would  take  great 
pleasure  in  being  at  the  wedding.  Mr.  Burt  would 
make  a  point  of  being  there,  though  his  business  lately 
called  him  so  much  away.  Would  the  wedding  be  a 
large  one  ? 

Well,  Mr.  Lewis  naturally  wished  most  of  his 
friends  about  him  on  such  an  occasion. 

Mrs.  Burt  was  sure  it  would  be  no  common  wed 
ding.  To  say  nothing  of  its  being  an  only  child,  and 
Mrs.  Lewis  wouldn't  expect  to  be  called  on  to  give 
another  wedding  soon,  it  would  be  natural  for  Mr. 
Lewis,  one  of  the  best-off  men  in  the  town,  to  make 
a  show  of  being  liberal  on  such  an  occasion.  Times 
were  altering  in  New  Canton,  and  people  expected 
more  from  each  other.  A  great  deal  had  been  done 
and  was  doing  for  the  town ;  and  it  was  quite  proper 
to  take  on  more  polish  and  pay  more  attention  to 
style  than  they  had  been  doing.  The  advance  in  the 
value  of  property  and  the  increase  in  the  wealth  of 
the  city  carried  with  it  responsibilities.  The  man 
whose  property  had  advanced  two  hundred  or  two 
thousand — she  had  forgotten  which  —  per  cent,  (what 
per  cent,  is  she  didn't  know,  but  it  was  something  Mr. 
Burt  talked  a  great  deal  about)  ought  not  to  live  as 
he  did  before  the  per  cent.  came.  The  railroads  would 
bring  in  city  ways.  "  Well,  we  shall  all  expect  to  en 
joy  ourselves  here  as  we  don't  do  anywhere  else. 
Give  my  sweet  love  to  Mary.  She  is  a  very  precious 
child,  Mrs.  Lewis.  It  is  well  she  gets  a  husband  so 
much  to  your  mind,  and  one  that's  well  able  to  take 
care  of  her.  Mr.  Paddleford  has  the  good  luck  to 
have  his  way  already  made  for  him,  and  he  can  give 
your  daughter  a  home,  such  as  she's  been  used  to. 


116  A  PAPER   CITY. 

But,  how  long  I'm  staying.  I  just  came  in  to  borrow 
the  pattern  of  your  gored  wrapper.  Mr.  Burt  says, 
4  Why  don't  you  wear  your  dresses  and  have  the  good 
of  them?'  There  are  so  few  places  it's  worth  while  to 
dress  for,  we're  really  quite  obliged  to  you  for  giving 
us  a  chance.  Miss  Farrell,  I  do  wish  you  would  run 
in  oftener,  and  let  me  know  how  yoMr  mother  is.  It 
is  so  seldom  I  can  get  round  to  see  her.  Good-morn 


ing." 


And,  with  a  grandiloquent  air,  marching  very  erect, 
Mrs.  Burt  took  herself  off.  The  ladies  left  behind 
were  too  old  not  to  know  better  than  to  smile  at  each 
other  the  minute  a  guest  was  gone ;  for  re-entrances 
might  prove  awkward.  In  this  case,  Mrs.  Burt  had 
only  got  half-way  down-stairs,  when  she  bethought 
herself,  and  appeared  again  at  the  chamber  door,  and 
peered  through,  on  tip-toe.  "  If  there  is  any  thing 
that  I  could  spare  to  convenience  you,  Mrs.  Lewis,  I 
should  be  too  happy,  and  would  do  so  with  the  great 
est  of  pleasure.  Any  thing  like  cake-pans  or  trays  ? 
Or  sha'n't  I  send  you  over  something  to  take  ?  Mary 
ought  to  take  something  strengthening,  and  commence 
right  away  —  say  taraxacum,  or  bark  and  iron,  or 
colocynth ;  and  you,  as  her  mother,  would  be  the  bet 
ter  for  some  lady-slipper  or  most  any  thing.  Mr. 
Lewis  —  I  have  known  the  fathers  of  the  bride  to 
need  something  supporting  on  such  occasions  —  he 
can  have  any  thing  I  have.  Mr.  Burt  is  so  high-strung, 
if  he  had  a  daughter  he  was  going  to  give  away,  I'm 
sure  I  should  have  to  do  something  to  keep  him  up  to 
himself." 

The  silence  that  followed  Mrs.  Burt's  departure 
was  more  marked  than  words  could  have  been.  At 


A   WEDDING   COUNCIL.  117 

last  Mrs.  Lewis  said,  "  Her  mother  was  part  Irish  !  " 
which  was  held  by  the  thorough-bred  Yankee  women 
to  comprehend  all  that  was  demanded  of  reprobation 
and  excuse. 

After  this  there  was  no  hope  for  poor  Mary.  She 
had  consented ;  her  mother,  Mary  Farrell,  and  Mrs. 
Burt  had  sat  in  council  on  the  case  ;  and  her  doom  was 
sealed.  It  was  impossible  that  she  should  not  marry 
Thomas  Paddleford. 


118  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

A  PUBLIC   MEETING   IN   NEW   CANTON. 

MR.  BURT  was  a  quiet  man,  but  not  a  idle  one- 
Sleeping,  he  dreamed  of  New  Canton,  and 
waking,  he  carried  it.  As  what  the  heart  is  full  of 
the  mouth  must  speak,  it  followed,  that,  whoever  was 
in  Mr.  Burt's  company  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time, 
left  with  a  perceptible  infusion  of  land  company  in 
his  thoughts.  The  steps  of  Burt  left  behind  them  a 
scattering  of  slim  and  pertinent  pamphlets,  the  bur 
den  of  which  was  the  natural  advantages  of  the  city 
and  the  certainty  of  its  glorious  future.  These  cun 
ning  leaflets  had,  rumor  said,  been  found  even  in  the 
pews  of  the  church,  that,  in  the  event  of  a  specially 
dry  sermon,  the  uninterested  might  surreptitiously  re 
fresh  their  minds  with  a  skip  from  the  gloomy  pros 
pect  of  a  hereafter  to  brighter  promise  close  at  hand. 

The  land  company  was  a  fixed  fact.  The  invest 
ments  of  Thompson,  of  Connecticut,  had  given  an  im 
petus  to  business  ;  and  the  money  made  by  the  prompt 
sale  of  the  notes  of  Taylor,  Gubbins  &  Adams  had 
enabled  the  managers  to  spread  its  fame  still  further. 

But  this  was  only  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Burt's  am 
bitions.  He  wanted  to  sell  a  hundred  lots  where  he 
was  selling  one ;  and  he  wanted  prices  to  go  up  a 


A  PUBLIC   MEETING   IN  NEW   CANTON.          119 

thousand  per  cent.  He  was  ungrateful  enough  to  be 
dissatisfied  with  his  support.  Peak,  Peppernell,  and 
Sharp  were  well  enough ;  but  their  names  did  not 
carry  weight.  Gardiner  was  excellent ;  but  he  was 
tired  of  harping  on  the  strength  of  one  man,  and  here 
James  Gardiner's  hand  came  in,  and  his  hardly  dis 
guised  opposition  almost  neutralized  the  effect  of  his 
father's  endorsement.  That  clear-headed  young  man 
held  his  judgment  in  suspension  on  the  matter  of  the 
land  company's  deserts ;  and  the  breadth  and  exceed 
ing  liberality  of  its  schemes  furnished  him  with  a  sub 
ject  for  his  satire,  that  he  made  full  use  of.  His  medi 
tations  on  the  business  principles  of  the  company  one 
day  took  poetic  form,  which  found  a  wide  circulation 
on  the  streets  of  New  Canton,  being  handed,  in  strict 
confidence,  about  from  one  vest  pocket  to  another  of 
about  fifty  citizens,  in  the  course  of  one  forenoon. 

"  WATTS  FOR  TO-DAY. 

"[Respectfully  dedicated  to  Mr.  Charles  Bitrt,  of  the  New  Canton 
Land  Company.] 

"  Oh  !  blest  be  he  whose  only  plan 

Is  righteousness  to  get ; 
Who  sweetly  skins  his  fellow  man, 

And  ne'er  lets  up,  you  bet !  " 

On  reading  it,  every  man  would  say  it  was  too  bad 
of  James  Gardiner,  and  he  ought  not  to  make  fun  of 
serious  business  matters  and  such  a  respectable  man 
as  Mr.  Burt.  And  each  man  would  immediately  read 
it  over  again,  and  insist  on  taking  a  copy  of  the  lines 
to  show  the  next  person  he  met.  Mr.  Burt  could  see 
that  the  hits  at  him  were  well  relished,  and  a  shrewd 
distrust  was  working  in  the  community  against  him. 


120  A  PAPER   CITY. 

He  was  sure,  that,  for  the  present,  he  held  his  place, 
not  by  popularity  or  personal  good  liking,  but  by  vir 
tue  of  the  closest  and  best  management. 

This  did  not  suit  at  all ;  and  he  determined  not  to 
put  up  with  it  any  longer.  He  wanted  the  reputable 
men  in  town  with  him  ;  and  he  wanted  the  weight  of 
their  names.  They  did  not  take  ground  against  him  ; 
for  they  were  willing  enough  that  their  acres  should 
be  turned  into  city  property,  if  Mr.  Burt  or  anybody 
else  could  do  it,  without  costing  them  any  thing  ;  but 
they  were  waiting  to  see  what  there  was  in  the  idea. 
If  it  proved  a  success,  there  was  time  enough  to  step 
in,  and  share  the  credit  of  the  enterprise  :  if  it  was  a 
failure,  there  would  be  an  excellent  chance  to  demon 
strate  their  wisdom  by  having  kept  out  of  it.  Like 
the  storied  hunter,  they  aimed  to  kill  if  it  was  a  deer, 
and  miss  if  it  was  a  calf. 

Much  of  .the  shrewdness  in  the  world  is  meanness, 
doing  business  under  the  firm  name  of  prudence  and 
conservatism. 

Mr.  Burt  meant  that  these  good  citizens  should  en 
dorse  the  land  company.  He  knew  better  than  to 
approach  them  directly.  They  would  have  sheered 
off  at  the  mention  of  the  land  company,  as  from  a 
ghost  ten  days  old.  Instead,  he  found  much  to  say 
of  the  town  —  its  needs  and  capabilities.  He  thought 
its  principal  streets  ought  to  be  lighted,  the  sidewalks 
improved,  the  school-grounds  fenced  and  trees  planted, 
and  the  approaches  to  the  town  improved.  There 
was  no  need  to  plunge  into  expense.;  but  the  walks 
certainly  ought  to  be  rebuilt,  or,  if  that  was  too  ex 
pensive,  the  planks  might,  at  least,  be  turned,  and 
newly  spiked,. so  that  a  woman  could  walk  without 
having  her  dress  torn  off. 


A   PUBLIC   MEETING   IN   NEW   CANTON.          121 

The  seed  did  not  fall  upon  stony  ground.  Only 
the  day  before  Mrs.  Paddleford  had  torn  her  dress 
upon  an  ugly  spike-head,  which  the  decayed  plank 
had  left  bare,  and  Mr.  Paddleford  had  been  vexed 
thereat.  The  skirt  was  ruined  ;  and  he  made  a  men 
tal  calculation  that  fourteen  yards  of  double-extra- 
rolled  French  poplin,  at  one-dollar  and  a  half  a  yard, 
and  three  yards  of  silk,  at  one  seventy-five  a  yard,  was 
more  than  his  share  of  the  tax  for  repaving  the  entire 
town,  to  say  nothing  of  the  insurance  against  acci 
dents  of  the  land  in  the  future.  Mr.  Paddleford 
agreed  with  Mr.  Burt,  that  the  sidewalks  should  be 
relaid. 

Mr.  M'Tavish,  the  head  teacher,  approved  the  idea 
of  improving  the  sohool-grounds.  He  desired  to  have 
grounds  and  buildings  to  point  to  with  pride,  so  that 
strangers  could  see  that  New  Canton  was  interested 
in  something  besides  mere  money-getting. 

Other  citizens,  especially  those  who  were  in  the 
habit  of  staying  out  late  at  night,  agreed  that  the 
streets  should  be  lighted,  and  the  town  brushed  up  to 
outward  signs  and  tokens  of  its  prosperity.  By  sug 
gesting  what  he  knew  each  desired,  and  letting  them 
do  the  talking  after  he  had  started  them,  Mr.  Burt 
succeeded  in  awakening  a  general  movement  in  the 
direction  he  wanted. 

Mr.  Paddleford  wished  to  be  informed  as  to  the  best 
method  of  getting  at  the  matter. 

"  Clearly,  by  carrying  out  your  suggestion  of  a 
public  meeting,"  was  Mr.  Burt's  answer.  (Paddle 
ford  was  as  innocent  of  making  a  suggestion  as  he 
was  of  murder.)  "  There  is  no  use,  as  you  observed, 
of  two  men  attempting  to  carry  out  so  comprehensive 


122  A  PAPER  CITY. 

a  scheme  of  improvements  as  you  have  suggested  ;  for 
they  will  not  be  able  to  do  it.  Unity  of  action  is 
what  we  want.  Suppose  you  draft  a  call  for  a  meet 
ing." 

Mr.  Paddleford  agreed  that  it  was  the  thing  to  do, 
took  a  pen,  and  spread  out  a  sheet  of  foolscap,  care 
fully  selecting  one  too  soiled  to  be  fit  for  a  business 
letter.  And  then  there  was  an  awkward  pause. 

"  Suppose,  Mr.  Paddleford,  you  commence  it,  4  The 
citizens  of  New  Canton  — ' ' 

"  I  was  about  writing  it,"  said  Paddleford. 
—  "  desiring  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  city,  are 
requested  to  meet  at  the  town-hall." 

44  It  had  better  be  at  the  town-hall,  had  it?  " 

Mr.  Burt  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  went  on 
dictating  the  call  from  first  to  last.  When  it  was  fin 
ished,  he  took  it  up  and  read  it. 

"  Mr.  Paddleford,  you  have  a  marvelous  faculty 
for  clear,  terse  statement.  This  is  precisely  what  I 
wanted.  It  is  'admirable.  Now,  Mr.  Paddleford,  1 
would  suggest  —  doubtless  you  intended  to  do  it  — 
that  you  get  the  signatures  of  the  best  citizens  to  the 
call,  and  have  it  out  in  posters,  as  well  as  the  papers. 
Good-morning.  You  will  bring  about  good  results. 
This  action  should  have  been  taken  before." 

"  Smart  man,  that  Burt,"  said  Paddleford  to  him 
self,  as  the  secretary  vanished. 

44  The  old  idiot  will  get  every  name  in  the  village," 
he  said  to  himself,  44  if  I  don't  appear  in  it." 

The  call,  issued  with  the  name  of  every  prominent 
citizen  on  it,  was  an  innocent-looking  document,  with 
no  reference  to  land  companies,  but  merely  desiring 
the  citizens  to  meet  to  take  counsel  as  to  the  present 


A  PUBLIC   MEETING   IK  NEW   CANTON.          123 

condition  of  the  village,  and  to  devise  measures  to  im 
prove  its  condition. 

The  evening  carne  ;  and  the  hall  was  filled.  Those 
who  never  paid  any  taxes  were  there  in  force  ;  for 
they  wanted  improvements  they  did  not  have  to  pay 
for :  and  those  who  did  pay  taxes  were  there,  to  op 
pose  or  urge,  as  interest  dictated. 

Mr.  Burt  was  there,  quiet  and  modest ;  but  his 
quick  eyes  took  in  every  thing.  Just  as  Mr.  Paddle- 
ford  was  rising,  Mr.  Burt,  a  second  in  advance,  nomi 
nated  James  Lewis,  Esq.,  for  chairman.  It  was  car 
ried.  Mr.  Lewis  took  the  chair  on  the  platform,  and, 
with  the  regulation  cough,  asked  the  meeting  its 
further  pleasure.  The  watchful  Burt  immediately 
nominated  Mr.  Thomas  Paddleford  and  seventeen 
other  reputable  citizens,  who  had  fought  shy  of  the 
land  company,  for  vice-presidents  ;  and  they  all  filed 
up  on  the  platform,  constituting  the  ornamental  part 
thereof.  The  editors  of  the  "  Forum  "  and  "  Senti 
nel  "  were  made  secretaries,  which  was  the  regular 
thing,  and  the  meeting  proceeded  to  business. 

Mr.  Burt  was  called  for,  in  a  voice  that  sounded 
wonderfully  like  Col.  Peppernell's  in  the  first  or  early 
evening  stage  of  intoxication.  Mr.  Burt  took  the 
floor,  without  eagerness  or  hesitation. 

Being  comparatively  a  stranger  in  New  Canton, 
Mr.  Burt  felt  a  delicacy  in  appearing  before  so  large 
a  gathering  of  the  best  men  of  the  city ;  and  his  only 
apology  was  the  deep  interest  he  took  in  the  prosper 
ity  of  the  place  of  his  adoption.  New  Canton  was  to 
him  wife,  child,  every  thing, — 

(Feminine  voice  from  the  audience,  sotto  voce,  "  Oh ! 
Charles  ! ") 


124  A   PAPER   CITY. 

—  and  every  thing   that    concerned    its  growth  and 
welfare  interested  him  beyond  his  power  of  expres 
sion.     He  believed  in  New  Canton.     Years  before  he 
had  ever  filled  his  lungs  with  the  pure  air  that  swept 
over  the  prairies  — 

Mr.    Paddleford.       "  Them    sidewalks    on    Main 
Street." 

—  or  his  foot  had  ever  planted  itself  upon  its  teem 
ing  soil,  he  had  noticed  its  position  with  reference  to 
the  trade  of  an  immense  area  of  territory,  and  felt 
convinced  that  there  was  to  be  gome  day,  and  that 
day  not  far  in  the  distance,  a  great  city,  a  controlling 
city,  a  powerful  city.     He  had  brought  with  him  some 
maps,  which  he  would  show  the  citizens  present,  that 
they  might  understand  his  enthusiasm  and  the  solid 
ground  upon  which  it  rested.     Here  — 

Mr.  Lewis  (fidgeting  in  his  seat).     "  The  lighting 
of  the  streets." 

—  here  flows  Soggy  Run,  and  there  the  Illinois  River. 
Could  any  thing  be  clearer  ?     With  railroads  running 
from  Chicago,  southward,  bearing  enough  to  the  west ; 
with  railroads  running  across  the  middle  of  this  great 
state  from  east  to  west,  and  bearing  enough  to  the 
north,  all  crossing  at  New  Canton  (and  where  else,  he 
would  ask,  could  they  cross  ?),  what  could  prevent 
New  Canton  from  becoming  the  most  important  in 
land  city  in  the  West  ?     And,  then,  with  coal  under 
lying  the  entire  section,  —  and   he    believed    it    did 
underlie  the  whole  section  ;  at  least,  he  should  assume 
that  it  did  underlie  the  whole  section,  for  no  man  had 
ever  shown  him  that  it  did  not  underlie  the  whole  sec 
tion,  —  with  cotton  south  of  us,  with  iron  in  the  Lake 
Superior  region  north  of  us,  and  in  Ohio  and  Pennsyl- 


A  PUBLIC   MEETING   IN   NEW   CANTON.  125 

vania  east  of  us,  and  south  of  us  in  Tennessee  (with 
reference  to  iron,  what  city  stood  better  geographi 
cally  ?),  what  could  stop  the  — 

Mr.  M'Tavish.     "  In  respect  to  the  matter  of  plant 
ing  trees  —  " 

—  growth  of  the  city,  or  prevent  it  from  marching 
steadily  forward  to  a  station  among  the  proudest  of 
the  cities  of  the  country  ?  Its  commerce  would  make 
it ;  its  coal  would  make  it ;  the  nearness  of  iron  would 
make  it;  its  geographical  position  would  make  it. 
Here  were  four  elements,  either  of  which  were  suffi 
cient.  Add  them  together,  it  was  more  than  great  — 
it  was  gigantic,  j 

.  Only  one  thing  had  dampened  his  ardor  or  made 
him  pause  in  the  work  he  had  set  for  himself  in  de 
veloping  this  great  idea  ;  and  that  was  the  apathy  , 
said  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the 
place  toward  the  great  enterprise.  But  the  large 
number  present  to-night,  representing  the  wealth  and 
influence  of  New  Canton,  and  the  cordiality  with 
which  they,  by  their  presence,  had  endorsed  the  ef 
forts  of  himself  and  his  associates,  gave  him  fresh 
courage.  In  union  there  is  strength.  With  united 
action  we  can  go  forward.  Without  it,  New  Canton 
will  remain  as  it  is.  Now  that  every  leading  citizen 
of  New  Canton  had  given  the  land  company  his  right 
hand,  and  bid  it  God  speed  in  its  work,  he  could  go 
confidently  on,  and  without  misgivings.  Thank  Hea 
ven  !  there  was  union  at  last. 

Col.  Peppernell  and  the  friends  of  the  land  com 
pany  applauded  vociferously,  as  did  that  vast  number 
who,  not  having  a  dollar  to  make  or  lose,  in  any  event, 
always  applaud  ;  and  the  example  aroused  something 


126  A   PAPEE   CITY. 

over  the  half  of  the  meeting.  Mr.  Burt  sat  down  very 
well  satisfied  with  his  success. 

Mr.  Paddleford,  Mr.  Lewis,  and  Mr.  M'Tavish  made 
an  effort  to  get   the  floor;   but  Col.  Peppernell  was 
called  for,  and  responded  with  suspicious  promptness. 
Up  to  this  time  New  Canton  had  not  deserved  to  be 
any  tiling  but  a  little  dirty  prairie  village,  as  it  had 
been,  before  some  men  who  could  see  an  inch  ahead 
of  their  noses  perceived  its  natural  advantages,  and 
took  hold  of  it  with  the  determination  to  make  some 
thing  of  it.      Now  he  felt  its  future  assured.      When 
the  best   citizens  (the  men  of  weight  in  the  town) 
came  to  the  front,  as  they  had  to-night,  and  showed 
by  their  presence  a  desire  to  hold  up  the  hands  of  the 
land  company,  and  to  endorse  it,  and  give  it  the  weight 
of  their  names,  the  powerful  influence  that  such  names 
always  carried,  he  felt  no  doubt  of  glorious  success. 
He  was  encouraged  beyond  his  feeble  powers  of  ex 
pression,  and  should  resume  his  labors  in  the  morning 
with  new  zeal  and   redoubled  ardor.      All   that   his 
friend  (he  was  proud  to  call  him  his  friend)  had  said 
of  the  advantages  of  New  Canton  he  endorsed.      His 
townsmen  would  remember,  that,  years  before,  when 
the  village  consisted  only  of  a  dozen  houses,  he  had 
prophesied  the  same  thing.      And,  if  his  hopes  had 
not  been  realized  before,  it  was  because  the  people, 
those  most  deeply  interested,  had  not  taken  hold  of 
the  matter  as  they  should  have  done.      Thank  Hea 
ven!  this  apathy  no  longer  existed.      And,  with  the 
impetus  this  meeting  would  give  the  town,  it  would 
go  forward  to  the  destiny  that  Nature  intended  for  it. 
When  he  looked  at  Chicago,  and  saw  what  the  un 
controlled  spirit,  the  unfettered  work  of  free  Western 


A  PUBLIC   MEETING  IN  NEW   CANTON.          127 

minds,  which  were  as  broad  as  their  prairies  and  as 
strong  as  their  winds,  could  do,  —  when  he  saw  the 
summits  of  grandeur  that  the  unconquerable  Ameri 
can  mind  could  accomplish,  when  relieved  from  the 
narrowness  of  Eastern  education  and  the  dwarfing  ex 
perience  of  old  countries,  which  had  run  in  ruts  for 
centuries, — spirit  which  had  room  to  develop  and  soar, 
—  he  felt  that  there  was  nothing  that  New  Canton 
could  not  aspire  to.  New  Canton  was  now  what  Chi 
cago  was  twenty  years  ago  ;  and  what  Chicago  is 
New  Canton  can  be  in  twenty  years.  And  now  that 
the  solid  men  had  come  to  the  front,  and  taken  upon 
their  shoulders  a  part  of  the  burden  which  he  and  his 
coadjutors  had  been  carrying  for  months,  there  was 
no  more  doubt  of  the  onward  progress  of  the  town 
than  there  was  of  the  onward  progress  of  the  country 
at  large.  He  was  willing  now  to  give  himself  entirely 
to  the  work. 

Mr.  Paddleford,  getting  the  floor  at  last,  suggested 
that  something  had  been  said  in  the  call  —  or,  rather, 
it  had  been  discussed  by  citizens  —  about  the  condi 
tion  of  the  sidewalks,  and  he  hoped  — 

Mr.  Burt  hoped  Mr.  Paddleford  would  excuse  him : 
sidewalks,  important  in  and  of  themselves,  should  not 
monopolize  the  time  that  could  be  devoted  to  more 
weighty  matters.  He  should  like  to  hear  from  Mr. 
Simmons. 

Peppernell  was  astonished  at  this  call ;  for  he  did 
not  know  that  Simmons  had  a  private  interest  with 
B  art  in  several  speculations  which  hinged  upon  the 
success  of  the  land  company.  No  one  knew  it ;  and, 
consequently,  Mr.  Simmons's  endorsement  of  the 
scheme,  coming  from  one  supposed  to  be  disinter 
ested,  carried  weight. 


128  A  PAPER   CITY. 

Mr.  Simmons  said  lie  had,  too,  had  a  belief  in  New 
Canton,  which  amounted  to  a  faith.  He  believed  that 
it  was  destined  to  be  the  first  among  the  inland  cities 
of  the  country.  While  he  did  not  believe  that  the 
hopes  of  the  gentlemen  who  had  preceded  him  would 
be  fully  realized,  he  still  believed  that  New  Canton 
had  a  future.  And,  feeling  that,  for  what  had  been 
done  and  what  was  to  be  done,  the  city  was  indebted 
to  the  enterprise  of  a  few  public-spirited  gentlemen, 
who  had  organized  the  land  company,  and  made  what 
of  notoriety  the  town  had  obtained,  he  had  prepared 
a  series  of  resolutions,  which  he  would  offer.  Mr. 
Simmons,  in  good  resolution  voice,  read  :  — 

"  Whereas,  The  citizens  of  New  Canton  have  faith 
in  the  future  of  the  city,  and  are  desirous  of  doing 
every  thing  honorable  to  promote  its  progress  and  real 
ize  expectations  that  they  believe  are  well-grounded ; 
and,  — 

"  Whereas,  Several  citizens  have  associated  them 
selves  as  a  land  company,  for  the  development  of  what 
we  believe  to  be  the  unparalleled  resources  of  the  loca 
tion  ;  therefore,  be  it  — 

"  Resolved,  That  we  most  thoroughly  endorse  the 
work  of  the  New  Canton  Land  Company,  of  which 
our  esteemed  fellow-townsman,  Col.  Seth  Peppernell, 
is  president,  and  our  equally  well-esteemed  fellow- 
townsman,  Mr.  Charles  Burt,  is  secretary  and  treas 
urer. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  unhesitatingly  commend  the 
land  company  as  worthy  of  confidence,  and  assure  all 
having  business  with  i.t  of  the  integrity,  probity,  and 
single-heartedness  of  its  managers,  believing  that  they 
are  acting  for  the  good  of  the  city,  first,  last,  and  all 
the  time. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  unhesitatingly  affirm  our  con- 


A   PUBLIC    MEETING   IN   NEW    CANTON.  129 

fidence  in  the  land  company  and  its  managers,  and 
endorse  them  fully  in  all  respects." 

Mr.  Burt  would  offer,  as  an  addition  to  these  reso- 
tions,  the  following  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  city,  through 
its  constituted  officers,  to  at  once  devise  a  system  of 
lighting  the  streets,  of  laying  sidewalks,  and  of  im 
proving  the  school-grounds;  for,  without  these  im 
provements,  the  work  of  the  land  company,  in  devel 
oping  the  interests  of  the  town,  will,  to  some  extent, 
be  rendered  nugatory." 

:  Capt.  Peak  moved  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions. 
Some  of  the  old  settlers,  who  were  not  in  the  land 
company,  were  opposed  to  the  wholesale  endorsements 
contained  in  them  ;  but,  whenever  one  of  them  rose, 
Mr.  Burt  or  Col.  Peppernell  was  on  his  feet  just  be 
fore  them,  with  remarks;  and,  before  the  citizens 
knew  exactly  what  they  were  about,  the  resolutions 
were  put  and  carried  without  a  dissenting  voice,  and 
the  meeting  adjourned. 

On  their  way  home,  Paddleford  remarked  to 
Lewis,  — 

"  Did  you  go  to  the  hall  to-night  to  endorse  that 
blasted  land  company  ?  " 

"  No  ;  but  we  did  it,  though.  You  didn't  vote 
agin  them  resolutions,  did  you  ?  " 

"  How  could  I  ?  There  was  Burt  and  Col.  Pepper 
nell  and  the  rest  of  them  all  there  ;  and  I  didn't  get 
a  chance  to  say  a  word  till  the  meeting  adjourned." 

14  Smart  man,  Burt,"  said  Lewis,  quietly. 

There  was  considerable  side-talk  about  it  the  next 
morning.  But,  as  the  meeting  had  resolved,  and  as 
not  one  present  would  admit  that  he  had  been  led  into 

9 


130  A  PAPER   CITY. 

it  against  his  will,  there  was  a  very  general  acquies 
cence  in  the  action ;  and  the  land  company  stood 
many  degrees  higher  than  it  had. 

The  "  Sentinel  "  and  the  "  Forum  "  blazed  with  it. 
The  head-lines  were  of  the  largest  type  the  offices  pos 
sessed  ;  and  there  was  the  most  extravagant  expendi 
ture  of  capital  letters  and  exclamation  points.  "  New 
Canton  Aroused !"  "  The  People  in  Council !"  "The 
Best  Men  of  the  City  Unqualifiedly  Endorse  the 
Land  Company  !  "  "  Stirring  Resolutions  !  "  and  so 
on. 

In  their  accounts  of  the  meeting,  they  were  care 
ful  to  state  that  the  meeting  called  to  endorse  the 
land  company  was  presided  over  by  James  Lewis, 
Esq. ;  and  every  one  of  the  eighteen  vice-presidents 
were  named  in  full;  and  the  resolutions  were  con 
demned  as  altogether  too  tame  for  the  expression  of 
the  feeling  of  the  audience.  They  assumed,  that,  now 
the  land  company  could  depend  upon  the  co-operation 
of  the  solid  men  of  the  town,  every  one  might  know, 
from  the  endorsement  that  it  had  received,  that  it  was 
not  the  speculation  of  a  few  men,  but  that  the  whole 
town  was  enlisted  in  it,  with  a  solidity  that  could  not 
be  questioned.  There  would  be  no  holding  back,  no 
delay.  When  such  men  as  Lewis,  Paddleforcl,  MTav- 
ish,  Simmons,  and  a  long  list,  embracing  all  of  wealth 
and  respectability  in  the  town,  endorsed  the  land  com 
pany,  who  could  question  either  as  to  its  aims  or  its 
responsibilty  ? 

Mr.  Burt  went  home  in  good  humor,  and  Pepper- 
nell  was  radiant. 

"  Colonel,"  said  Mr.  Burt,  the  next  morning,  as  they 
looked  over  the  papers,  "  the  meeting  will  result  in 


A  PUBLIC   MEETING   IN  NEW  CANTON.          131 

great  good.  I  was  charmed  with  the  readiness  with 
which  the  leading  citizens  supported  us,  and  the  cor 
diality  of  their  support.  It  cheered  my  very  soul  to 
see  them  on  the  platform  ;  and  the  attention  they  gave 
us  when  speaking  was  truly  encouraging.  Now  that 
we  have  this  endorsement,  the  people  ought  to  have 
more  money." 

"You  mean  we  ought  to  have  more  money,"  said 
Peppernell. 

"  No :  the  people.  If  it  was  only  flush  times  ! 
If  money  was  floating  about,  so  that  everybody  had 
money  that  they  didn't  know  what  to  do  with  I  Hea 
vens  !  What  couldn't  we  do  if  the  people  only  had 
something  to  do  with  !  —  if  money  (I  wouldn't  care  a 
straw  what  kind)  was  only  plenty  here  !  If  we  only 
had  a  bank,  and  could  issue  — 

Mr.  Burt  stopped  very  short.  He  had  an  idea, 
which  he  would  get  into  shape  before  making  it 
knowii. 


132  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    X. 
TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING. 

TOM  PADDLEFORD  always  said,  that,  if  he 
couldn't  be  married  in  style,  he  wouldn't  be 
married  at  all.  His  ideas  on  this  subject,  as  well  as 
on  the  perfections  of  the  lady  to  share  this  rite,  were 
so  emphatic  that  his  most  intimate  friends  were  of 
the  opinion  he  would  have  to  dispense  with  the  cere 
mony  altogether,  as  some  of  his  better-informed  breth 
ren  are  in  the  habit  of  doing.  But  it  is  given  to  few 
mortals  to  see  their  dearest  wishes  gratified  as  liter 
ally  as  Mr.  Paddleford's  were.  The  lady  he  was  to 
marry  had  his  favorite  points  of  style.  She  wore  a 
number  two  slipper  ;  and,  to  use  her  future  husband's 
phrase,  "  she  held  herself  together  well,"  assisted  by 
a  sixteen-inch  corset,  and  "  dressed  as  if  she  knew  her 
business."  Mr.  Tom's  bride  was  suitably  perfect. 
What  shall  be  said  of  Mr.  Tom's  wedding? 

It  was  curious ;  but  everybody  who  spoke  of  the 
event  invariably  called  it  Tom  Paddleford's  wedding, 
as  if  that  sufficient  and  pervasive  young  man  meant 
to  take  the  whole  share  and  glory  of  it  to  himself. 

In  general,  strict  propriety  demands  that  a  bride 
groom  should  be  the  last  person  to  know  any  thing  of 
the  preparations  for  his  nuptials  ;  and  he  is  on  his 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  133 

honor  to  ignore  such  hints  of  them  as  fall  in  his  way. 
But  Mr.  Tom  was  not  to  be  bound  by  any  conven 
tionalities  but  those  drilled  into  him  by  Chicago  com 
mercial  men.  Mrs.  Lewis,  a  mother-in-law  holding 
lightly  points  of  etiquette  which  did  not  come  through 
her  oracle,  the  Chicago  sister-in-law,  was  not  aware 
of  the  responsibility  put  upon  her  by  modern  high 
breeding.  She  would  have  disliked  it  in  this  case,  as 
depriving  her  of  most  zealous  and  efficient  help  in  her 
arrangements.  Mary  Lewis  would  do  nothing,  decide 
nothing  for  her  own  wedding.  Tom  and  her  mother 
managed  the  invitations,  chose  the  supper,  and  Tom, 
with  his  own  hands,  aided  to  arrange  the  parlors  the 
afternoon  before  the  bridal.  As  Mrs.  Lewis  and  Tom 
took  a  last  look  at  their  work,  about  half-past  five,  be 
fore  going  to  dress  for  the  evening,  the  result  seemed 
not  unworthy  the  pains  bestowed  upon  it. 

Like  many  country  houses,  the  Lewis  mansion,  ap 
parently  spacious  without,  was  cut  up  in  contracted 
rooms  within.  But,  if  the  parlors  were  not  as  large 
as  expected,  there  was  no  limit  to  their  showiness. 
The  first  thing  one  was  conscious  of,  on  entering,  was 
a  glare  of  light  wall,  in  contrast  to  a  carpet  of  dark, 
high  colors,  which  took  precedence  of  every  thing  iu 
the  room.  Mrs.  Lewis  took  pride  in  her  parlor  car 
pet, —  none  of  your  cheap  tapestries  anybody  could  buy 
who  had  a  carpet  at  all,  but  a  "  body  Brussels,"  of 
substantial  price  and  vigorous  pattern  and  color.  A 
visitor,  whose  mind  was  narrowed  by  notions  of  taste, 
complained  that  the  carpet  in  question  always  made 
her  think  of  hell-fire,  its  black  ground,  with  lurid 
scrolls  of  red,  having  a  fire-and-smoke  effect  that  re 
called  popular  images  of  torment.  But  the  robust 


134 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


imagination  of  Mrs.  Lewis  was  above  such  weakness. 
She  liked  a  carpet  that  gave  her  «  something  to  study 
on;"   and  the  blood-red  arabesques  of  her   beloved 
Brussels  held  such  roses  and  blue  tulips  as  you  could 
not   cover   with   your   foot,  or   make    out   in  a  day. 
Further,  the  double  parlors  owned  the  dignity  of  a 
full-length  pier-glass,  with  marble  slab  and  flourishing 
gilt  brackets,  and  a  mantel  mirror  of  the  same  lavish 
blazonry,  both  bought  at  a  hotel  auction  in  Chicago, 
after  the  war.     The  newness  of  the  walnut  and  gilt 
window  cornices  was  rather  out  of  keeping  with  the 
bygone  splendor  of  the  mirrors.     But  the  eyes  of  New 
Canton  guests  did  not  suffer  from  such  discrepancies. 
Curtains  of  Nottingham  lace,  very  stiff,  very  blue,  and 
very  chilly,  without  the  aid  of  chintz  or  damask,  veiled 
the  long  windows  ;  and  the  furniture  of  striped  green 
reps  was  bright  and  new  as  a  coffin  dealer's  stock. 
The  piano,  bought  with  an  eye  to  four  round  corners 
and  the  largest,  scrolliest  legs  in  Chicago,  set  across 
a  corner  —  the   prevailing  idea   among   New  Canton 
young  ladies  of  giving  a  room  an  artistic  air;  and  the 
walls  further  reflected  the  "  taste  and  refinement "  of 
its  owners  by  life-size  crayon  photographs  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lewis  —  the  lady  in  a  spread  of  lace-shawl,  with 
cameo  ear-drops  and  necklace,  which  was  the  envy  of 
all  female  friends  who  did  not  know  these  properties 
were  borrowed  from  her  sister  in  Chicago,  the  wife  of 
a  grain  speculator,  who  bought  his  wife  ornaments  as 
a  safe  investment,  which  the  law  could  not  levy  on. 
There   was   a   smaller  picture   of  Mary,   apparently 
habited  in  a  lace  shawl,  from  which  her  bare  shoulders 
rose  like  the  moon  from  a  cloud  ;  her  hair  let  down 
her  back  and  her  eyes  uplifted,  in  the  style  most  af- 


TOM  PADDLEFOED'S  WEDDING.  135 

fected  by  photographers.  A  chromo  of  Lake  George 
balanced  one  of  Niagara,  beside  of  a  fruit  piece, 
bought  by  Mr.  Lewis  at  the  county  fair,  to  give  strug 
gling  home  talent  a  lift.  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
uglier  than  it  was  necessary  to  make  that  thrice-mar 
tyred  man,  opposed  a  diploma  won  by  Mr.  Lewis's 
Cochin  China  fowls  at  the  same  fair ;  and  any  vacant 
space  was  filled  by  an  assortment  of  mottoes,  in  gay 
illuminated  colors,  such  as  "  What  is  home  without  a 
mother  ?  "  highly  suited  to  any  house  where  Mrs. 
Lewis  held  that  relation,  and  texts  of  the  most  af- 
feeling  sort,  such  as  "  Jesus  wept,"  or  "  We  all  do 
fade  as  a  leaf,"  cheerfully  adapted  to  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  the  usual  visitor.  The  back  parlor  gave 
the  place  of  honor  to  Mary's  drawing  of  her  old  home, 
which  people  recognized  the  moment  they  were  told 
what  it  was.  A  crayon  head  of  the  "  Water- Witch," 
by  the  same  fair  artist  —  the  hair  hardly  rooted  to  the 
head,  and  looking  as  if  the  nymph's  teeth  hurt  her  — 
showed  great  room  for  promise,  as  a  stray  connoisseur 
ventured  to  say.  Nor  were  small  feminine  elegancies 
wanting  to  give  rooms  a  homelike  charm  —  such  as 
velvet-photograph  stands,  woolly  as  to  the  velvet,  and, 
as  to  the  gilding,  thin,  or  hanging  bead-baskets  filled 
with  artificial  flowers.  The  usual  bay-window  grew 
red  geraniums,  callas,  and  orange  flowers,  which  wo 
men  cultivate  because  they  give  the  best  show  and 
smell  for  the  trouble,  and  are  to  a  house-garden  like 
a  white  calf  among  house-pets.  Mary's  piano  showed 
the  correct  assortment  of  music — the  last  high-pitched 
song  of  Millard's,  some  pretty  jingling  waltzes,  which 
sounded  as  if  played  with  the  forefinger  by  the  fair 
performer,  and  sentimental  pieces,  like  the  "  Maiden's 


136  A  PAPER   CITY. 

Prayer,"  "Streamlet's  Murmur,"  or  "  Spilling  Spray," 
in  company  with  the  "  Golden  Lute,"  the  "Nickel  Cen 
ser,"  or  whatever  metallic  fancy  in  names  had  then 
taken  the  place  of  the  "  Carmina  Sacra,"  and  "  Men 
delssohn  Collection,"  with  their  honest  harmonies.  A 
small  table  held  the  family  Bible,  in  turkey  leather 
and  gilt  edges,  presented  to  Mary's  father  and  mother 
on  their  marriage,  and  which  looked  as  if  it  had  never 
been  opened  since  ;  Mary's  album  of  her  girl  friends 
and  lovers ;  and  a  slim,  brilliantly  gilt  volume,  with  the 
menacing  inscription  "  Autographs,"  to  fill  which  Mary 
had  sweetly  badgered  authors  and  statesmen,  and  so  far 
succeeded  that  she  felt  her  collection  would  be  com 
plete  if  she  could  get  Victor  Hugo's  and  Talmage's. 
A  Turkish  chair,  with  large  red  roses  done  on  a  black 
stripe,  was  the  work  of  Mrs.  Lewis,  in  the  elegant 
leisure  of  summer  visits ;  while  sawed  and  pressed 
carving  in  brackets,  wall-pockets,  frames,  and  puzzles 
abounded,  till  the  parlors  wore  an  air  between  a  fur- 
nishing-shop  and  a  church  fair.  Mrs.  Lewis  and  Mary 
belonged  to  the  school  of  women  who  dread  to  see  a 
room  look  bare,  if  it  has  room  to  put  a  newspaper 
down,  or  a  yard  of  wall  for  the  eye  to  rest  upon. 

But  for  Tom  Paddleford  to  have  a  wedding  just 
like  anybody  else's  would  be  worse  than  having  none 
at  all ;  and  his  genius  must  show  itself  worthy  the  oc 
casion.  Rumors  were  rife  of  further  splendors  wait 
ing  in  the  Lewis  mansion.  The  afternoon  train  from 
Chicago  brought  hampers,  addressed  to  the  bride 
groom,  exhaling  undisguised  sweetness ;  and  it  was  ru 
mored  that  the  ambitious  young  man  meant  to  have 
flowers  at  his  wedding — flowers  in  March  —  flowers 
by  the  bush'l-basketf'l. 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  137 

In  his  visits  to  Chicago,  Tom  had  made  a  point  of 
going  to  all  the  fashionable  weddings  and  funerals  at 
the  churches ;  and  his  friends,  the  drummers  of  busi 
ness  houses  he  dealt  with,  kept  him  kindly  informed 
of  the  most  brilliant  ceremonies,  and  were  good  na- 
tured  in  securing  seats  for  him  when  the  church  was 
open  to  the  public.     What  appealed  to  Mr.  Paddle- 
ford's  sensibilities  most  on  such  occasions  was  what  he 
was  never  heard  to  mention  save  as  "  the  floral  dis 
play."     Hoses   and   lilies  would   have   stood   a  poor 
chance  of  Mr.  Tom's  acquaintance    on   their   native 
soil ;  but,  combined  with  florist's  skill,  in  harps,  an 
chors,  ships,  crowns,  and  such  natural  and  graceful 
forms  as  flowers  lend  themselves  to  when  well  wired 
and  packed  on  frames,  his  soul  was  carried  captive  by 
them.     His  heart  was  set  on  introducing  such  a  "  flo 
ral  display  "  at  his  nuptials,  and  he  went  so  far  as  to 
drop  in  at  a  florist's  and  inquire  the  cost  of  the  pag 
eant  ;   but  the   answer   was   such   as   to    quench    all 
thoughts  of  shining  by  a  city  florist's  aid,  and  he  left 
the  shop  in  a  state  of  burning  indignation  at  the  greed 
of  fashionable  purveyors. 

^  But,  when  the  time  came  that  Tom  wanted  flowers 
for  his  wedding,  fortune  befriended  him.  One  of 
Tom's  Chicago  friends  was  the  wife  of  an  army  offi 
cer  killed  two  months  before  by  the  Indians  ;  and, 
when  his  body  was  recovered,  the  officer  in  command 
had  no  more  discretion  than  to  forward  it,  putting 
Mrs.  McCullom  to  the  expense  of  a  funeral,  just  as 
she  had  spent  every  thing  on  her  mourning,  in  the  as 
surance  that  there  were  no  burial  costs  to  come  in. 
Tom,  in  town  the  day  before  his  wedding,  could  not 
resist  going  to  condole  with  her,  and  talk  about  his 


138  A  PAPEE   CITY. 

own  prospects.  McCullom  was  even  then  at  the  de 
pot,  in  his  pine  box ;  and  his  widow  must  disturb  her 
well-settled  grief  by  giving  him  a  funeral.  It  would 
not  do  to  give  him  a  shabby  one,  either  ;  for  his  folks 
would  be  there,  and  she  had  money  coming  from  them, 
and  flowers  came  so  expensive  this  time  of  year. 

Tom  steadied  the  exultant  throbs  of  his  heart  as 
well  as  he  could,  and  gravely  proposed,  not  selling  the 
flowers  —  no,  indeed  ;  but,  if  a  friend  of  his,  who  had 
lost  a  child,  said  Tom  (inventing  as  he  went),  and 
been  disappointed  in  getting  the  flowers  wanted,  could 
have  the  use  of  her  flowers  afterward,  without  injury 
to  Mrs.  McCullom's  feelings,  there  might  be  an  ar 
rangement  made,  relieving  her  of  part  of  the  bill. 
He  wouldn't  dare  to  mention  such  a  thing  ;  but  he 
happened  to  know  just  how  both  parties  were  situated. 
He  would  take  it  on  himself  to  arrange,  so  that 
neither  party  need  appear  in  the  matter. 

The  McCullom  saw  her  point,  and  made  a  faint 
show  of  reluctance,  the  end  of  which  was,  early 
morning  obsequies  for  the  lieutenant,  and  prompt  dis 
patch  of  his  flowers,  packed  in  wet  cotton,  to  Mr. 
Tom  Paddleford.  The  ilowers  really  were  a  credit  to 
the  widow's  taste ;  and  she  had  the  florist's  bill  sent  to 
Tom,  writing  him  that  his  friends  could  pay  what  they 
felt  like,  and  she  would  make  up  the  rest.  Tom  paid 
the  bill,  but  never  a  dollar  did  he  get  from  the 
McCullom.  But  this  is  dipping  into  history  too 
deeply. 

"  You  —  your  friends  will  break  up  the  pieces, 
won't  they  ? "  Mrs.  McCullom  said  to  him,  before  he 
left.  "  I  shouldn't  like  to  run  the  chance  of  any  one's 
recognizing  the  flowers"  —  a  movement  of  pure  de- 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  139 

cency  on  her  part  which  deserves  to  be  recorded. 
Tom  promised,  of  course  ;  but,  when  he  came  to  un 
pack  the  flowers,  he  was  so  taken  with  the  beauty 
of  the  designs  and  their  appropriateness,  as  he  found 
it,  that  he  tossed  his  promise  over  his  shoulder.  Ac 
cordingly,  in  Mrs.  Lewis's  parlors,  brilliant  with 
swinging  lamps  of  kerosene,  the  mirrors  reflected  the 
flower-pieces,  in  their  whiteness,  like  ornamental  speci 
mens  from  a  stone-cutter's  yard ;  and  their  fragrance 
was  dying  on  the  air.  The  slab  before  the  pier-glass 
was  graced  by  a  Bible  in  white  hyacinths,  with  the 
words  "  loved  and  lost  "  in  deep  purple  heliotrope,  an 
inscription  much  commented  on  by  the  guests,  as  ele 
gantly  expressing  the  feelings  of  a  father  and  mother 
giving  up  their  only  daughter;  while  the  bridal  pair 
stood  up  between  a  huge  cross  of  black  ivy  leaves, 
chosen  by  the  McCullom  because  ivy  made  such  a 
show  for  the  money,  and  a  tall  cross  of  tuberoses,  sur 
mounted  by  a  crown  of  violets,  taken  to  set  forth  the 
expectant  cross  and  crown  of  married  life. 

"  There  never  was  any  tiling  like  it  in  this  region," 
Mrs.  Clements,  who  went  out  by  the  day  in  approved 
families,  declared  that  evening,  to  Mrs.  Fitzhugh,  the 
cobbler's  wife.  "  The  table-cloths  came  down  to  the 
ground,  so  they  had  to  pin  'em  up  at  the  corners  ;  and 
Miss  Lewis  must  ha'  borrowed  all  the  best  glass  out'n 
the  store,  for  there  was  nigh  on  to  two  dozen  tall 
deeshes,  with  fancy  fruit  and  jels.  And,"  lowering 
her  voice  to  suit  the  impressiveness  of  her  news, 
"  she's  got  real  silver  on  the  table  —  six  cake-baskets, 
and  three  tall  branches  with  nuts  and  confectionery  ! 
It  goes  beyond  any  thing  New  Canton  ever  saw  before. 
I  expect  everybody  of  them  that  has  money  will  have 


140  A   PAPER   CITY. 

to  be  laying  in  silver  now ;  for  there  won't  none  of 
'em  allow  the  rest  to  get  ahead  of  her." 

"I  reckon  we've  paid  as  much  as  thirty  or  forty 
dollars  on  that  silver,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Fitzhugh,  a 
brown,  sallow,  waspish-looking  woman,  who  had  sev 
eral  children  too  many,  and  lived  in  a  state  of  chronic 
discontent  with  the  world.  "  A  man  who  lends  money 
at  eighteen  per  cent,  to  poor  folks,  and  has  nothing  to 
do  but  sit  and  wait  for  it  to  grow,  can  afford  to  give 
his  wife  what  she  takes  a  notion 'to.  If  other  folks 
got  paid  in  proportion  to  their  labor,  other  folks  might 
have  silver  at  their  weddings  too.  Luella  Adelia, 
get  along  into  the  house  this  minit.  How  often  have 
I  told  you  not  to  run  out  in  the  sun  without  abunnit. 
You'll  need  all  the  little  good  looks  you  have  ;  for  your 
father  can't  afford  to  get  no  silver  for  you  to  get  mar 
ried  with." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  was  the  soothing  response 
of  the  Clements,  who  had  been  all  day  helping  for  the 
wedding,  "  Miss  Lewis  is  a  good  neighbor  as  I'd  ask 
to  have  if  I  want  a  using  of  baking  powder  ;  and  she 
isn't  above  coming  into  my  house,  with  her  apron  over 
her  head,  Mondays,  to  borrow  my  bluing-bag,  more'n 
if  she  hadn't  an  account  at  the  store  and  no  questions 
asked  for  this  or  that.  I  was  up-stairs,  to  see  the 
bride  in  her  wedding-dress,  which  she  was  trying  on ; 
and  she  gave  me  word  to  come  over  in  the  evening 
and  have  a  peep  at  the  company,  and  there  would  be 
some  cake  saved  for  me.  4 1  want  everybody  to  get 
all  the  comfort  they  can  out  of  my  wedding,'  says  she. 
But  she  did  look  pretty  as  an  image.  Brides  always 
do  look  well  —  that  veil  softens  their  complexion  so. 
I  should  think  they'd  hate  to  put  it  off,  and  come 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  141 

out  like  other  mortals.  I  don't  see  how  Mary  can 
ever  come  down  to  planning  what  she'll  have  for  din 
ner  and  what  will  take  the  spots  out  of  her  husband's 
clothes,  after  she's  been  training  round  in  that  veil 
and  gown  and  flowers.  Tom  Paddleford  will  make 
life  serious  for  her,  though,  fast  enough.  He's  got  an 
angel  for  a  wife  ;  and  it's  mostly  them  that  needs  an 
gels  gets  'em." 

It  does  not  come  easily  to  human  nature  to  wholly 
approve  a  neighbor's  doings  ;  and  it  is  by  this  truism 
that  Mrs.  Lewis  would  have  consoled  herself  for  the 
opinions  held  in  common  with  Mrs.  Clements  by  some 
of  her  better  acquaintance.  These  opinions  were  not 
hinted  merely,  even  within  the  walls  of  her  own  house 
and  on  the  very  night  of  the.  wedding. 

"  I  never  knew  Mrs.  Lewis  looking  better  than  she 
does  to-night,"  said  one  of  two  brightly-dressed  young 
matrons,  who  had  subsided  on  the  chintz  lounge  in 
the  sitting-room,  while  the  gayeties  of  the  evening 
went  on  about  them. 

"  I  suppose  you  and  I'd  feel  satisfied  if  we  were 
marrying  a  daughter  off  as  well  as  she  thinks  she 
has,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Mine  are  all  boys,"  said  the  first ;  "  and  I've  often 
wished  one  of  'em  was  a  girl.  But  it  wouldn't  be  to 
marry  her  to  that  Paddleford  young  one.  I  always 
thought  he  was  dreadfully  inferior." 

"  She's  got  new  parlor  curtains,"  said  the  other, 
deeming  it  prudent  to  change  the  subject.  "  I  know, 
for  she  lent  the  others  for  the  church  tableaux  at 
Christmas.  I  was  on  the  committee,  and  came  over 
to  help  take  them  down,  and  they  were  on  her  parlor 
windows  then." 


142  A   PAPEE   CITY. 

That  is  the  way  our  neighbors  keep  the  run  of  de 
tails  in  our  households  of  which  we  ourselves  are 
hardly  conscious. 

"  That  was  the  time  James  Gardiner  and  Mary  acted 
in  the  4  Spirit  of  76,'"  whispered  the  incautious 
neighbor.  "  This  wasn't  the  wedding  we  expected 
to  attend  then." 

"It  isn't  the  thing  to  say  in  her  own  house,"  said 
Prudence.  "  To  my  mind,  Jim  Gardiner  was  worth 
twenty  like  Tom  Paddleford;  and,  if  I'm  not  mis 
taken,  Mrs.  Lewis  will  find  out  she  hasn't  done  such 
a  smart  thing  by  her  daughter,  after  all." 

"  Who  is  that  girl  in  the  lavender  dress,  with  crape 
ruches?" 

"  She's  Mrs.  Burt's  housekeeper  ;.  came  over  to  see 
to  things,  and  take  the  care  of  Mrs.  Lewis.  Did  you 
ever  see  a  party  go  off  better  ?  Mrs.  Lewis  says  the 
girl  saw  to  every  thing  —  set  the  tables,  and  got  the 
dressing-rooms  ready.  Mrs.  Burt  said  there  wouldn't 
have  been  glass  enough  to  go  round,  if  Emeline  hadn't 
sent  out  for  a  dozen  and  a  half  extra." 

"  I  never  should  take  her  for  a  housekeeper.  There 
isn't  a  prettier  woman  in  the  room." 

"  I  couldn't  see  her  looks,  for  her  manners.  You 
don't  mean  that's  old  Butterfield's  daughter,  out  by 
the  Youatt  Bluff?  He  stole  her,  then ;  for  I'll  de 
clare  she's  none  of  his." 

"  Hush  !  She's  behind  us.  Do  you  suppose  she 
heard  ? "  asked  the  neighbors,  with  distress,  as  the 
gliding  figure  came  near  them. 

"  She  don't  give  no  sign.  Peppernell's  coming  this 
way.  I  wonder  what  he'll  have  to  unfold. 

The  Colonel,  gorgeous  in  blue  swallow-tailed  coat 


TOM  PADDLEFOKD'S  WEDDING,  143 

and  white  vest,  had  been  trying  to  assist  everybody 
to  a  pleasant  evening,  and  now  thought  it  time  to  take 
some  enjoyment  on  his  own  account.  Not  to  the 
matrons  on  the  sofa  were  his  attentions  directed.  He 
hated  women  with  stuck-up  notions,  he  said  ;  and,  as 
his  ideas  of  stuck-up  women  included  all  who  objected 
to  miscellaneous  swearing  and  a  generally  unbraced  and 
shirt-sleeved  style  of  manners,  his  acquaintance  was 
not  coveted  by  the  ladies  of  New  Canton.  His  steps 
were  apparently  directed  to  the  side-table  near  which 
sat  Emeline,  the  spread  of  her  pure  and  silky  skirts, 
graceful,  though  of  most  modest  material  and  fashion, 
her  hands  crossed  in  superb  indolence,  her  eyelids 
down,  resting  with  an  air  that  would  not  have  shamed 
a  debutante  of  Mount  Gilead  College.  A  sense  of  re 
spect  had  come  with  her  invitation  to  the  wedding ; 
and  she  felt  self-poised,  and  acted  so. 

Burt,  whom  nothing  escaped,  saw  the  change  with 

some  wonder.      The  young  lady  in  the  long  dress  of 

pale   lavender   mohair,  soft  and  sheeny  in  its  folds, 

made  with  a  surprising  attention  to  style,  and  worn 

with  an  uprightness  and  smoothness  of  carriage  that 

distinguished  itself  among  the  awkward,  giggling  girls 

of  the  crowd,  looked  and  moved  at  least  the  equal  of 

every  creature  about  her.     The  man  of  discrimination, 

used  to  wider  society  than  poor   Burt,  would   have 

recognized  her  at  once  for  what  she  was  —  material 

for  a  high-bred  lady,  one  of  Nature's  most  gracious 

molds;  for  she.  has  many  and  varying  ones.      Burt 

had  natural  taste  enough  to  approve  the  change  from 

the  demure  maiden  his  household  had  known  ;  and  he 

watched  quietly  to  see  what  might  come  of  it.      He 

saw  Pepperncll  draw  near.,  ostensibly  for  a  glass  of 


A 'PAPER  CITY. 

water;    and    his   eye   sparkled   with   malicious   mis 
chief. 

"I  think  I  shall  venture  to  claim  acquaintance," 
the  Colonel  said,  with  a  fascinating  grin  of  the  kind 
apt  to  go  with  blue  beetle-winged  coat  and  brass 
buttons.  «  We  have  met  often  enough  "  (he  had  seen 
her  at  Mr.  Burt's)  ;  "and  I  am  sure  I  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  before  you  came  to  town." 

"I  live  at  Mrs.  Burt's,"  was  the  answer,  given 
without  the  least  hesitation ;  "  and  my  father  is  Mr. 
Butterfield,  who  lives  out  by  the  Youatt  Bluff." 

Two  listeners  on  the  lounge  heard  it  with  redden 
ing  ears. 

^  "  The  bride  is  looking  sweetly  to-night,"  was  the 
Colonel's  next  observation.      «  I  approve  the  custom 
of  countries  where  the  women  wear  a  veil  all  the  time 
-  most  women.      There  are  faces  which  I  would  be 
sorry  to   see   hidden,"  with  a  bow  which   made   his 
words  a  neatly  turned   compliment  enough.      "  We 
are  favored   to-night  with  beauty  adorned  and  una 
dorned—that  is,  not  much,"  said  the  Colonel,  lamely 
and  embarrassed,  finding  his  idea  had  not  altogether 
the  right  sound.      "I  can't  spare  all  my  admiration 
for   the    front   rooms,  you  see,"  —  where   the  bridal 
party  was  then  conspicuous. 

"Much  obliged,"  said  the  unmoved  beauty;  "but 
you  had  better  keep  such  pretty  speeches  for  the  front 
rooms,  Colonel.  They  know  better  what  to  do  with 
them." 

"  I  shall  be  pleased  to  do  so,"  said  the  ready  beau, 
"  if  you  will  allow  me  to  escort  you  there,  where  you 
belong,"  bending  his  arm  with  alacrity. 

But  it  did  not  suit  Emeline's  book  to  attract  notice 


UNIVERSITY  ) 


a 

I   UNIVl 

. 

TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  145 

in  the  ill-flavored  escort  of  Peppernell.      Neither  did 
she  mean  to  offend  the  doughty  Colonel's  self-love,,  as 
a  girl  of  less  tact  would  have  done.     She  laid  the  tips 
of  her  fingers  on  the  blue  coat-sleeve,  took  half  a  turn 
round  the  back  rooms,  and,  before  the  Colonel  knew 
how,  he  was  talking  with  one  of  the  Lewis  cousins, 
while    Emeline  escaped.      Burt   saw  the  manoeuvre, 
and  smiled  grimly  at  Peppernell's  discomfiture.      He 
marked  his  approval  of  the  girl's  cleverness  by  send 
ing  her  more  acceptable  attentions  than  those  she  had 
so  adroitly  disposed  of.      Not   in  any  open  fashion. 
That  would  have  been  gross  tactics  for  Burt.      He 
sauntered  up  to  a  knot  of  young  men  who  were  eye 
ing  the  ladies,  after  the  manner  of  home-bred  youth  ; 
and  it  hardly  needed  the  financier's  temperate  judg 
ment,  that  any  gentleman  would   show  his  taste  in 
paying  civilities  to  Miss  Butterfield,  to  draw  them  one 
after  another  to  her  side.      What  one  man  admires, 
another  man  is  sure  to  find  good ;  and  the  pale  laven 
der  dress  and  the  pretty  wearer  had  no  reason  to  com 
plain  that  her  evening  was  a  dull  one.     It  would  have 
done  old  Hannah  Butterfield  good  to  see  her  beauti 
ful-  child  watched  and  admired,  in  a  modest  way,  as 
she  was  this  evening.      Burt  glanced  at  her  occasion 
ally,  with  a  quiet  satisfaction  under  his  impassive  air. 
He  knew  his  work,  and  was  pleased  with  it. 

Later  in  the  evening,  the  bride  drew  Emeline  to 
her  side  ;  and,  as  the  two  stood  together  alone  —  one, 
a  pale,  shimmering  figure,  with  face  as  white  as  her 
dress,  with  the  glowing,  dark-eyed,  opening  lovliness 
by  her  side,  Emeline,  looking  up,  caught  Burt's  gaze, 
from  a  distance,  which  changed  to  a  smile  as  he  met 
her's,— a  smile  so  frank  and  kind  as  changed  the 

10 


146  A   PAPER   CITY. 

whole  character  of  his  face.  It  seemed  to  bid  her 
have  confidence  in  herself,  and  be  happy.  It  was  a 
tribute  so  direct  and  sincere,  that  never  afterward  did 
Emeline  doubt  she  had  a  friend  in  her  polished,  un 
demonstrative,  taciturn  employer.  This  unexpected 
kindness  was  all  that  was  wanting  to  turn  her  evening 
into  unalloyed  pleasure. 

But  she  had  been  working  very  hard  all  day ;  and, 
toward  midnight,  fatigue  began  to  tell  even  on  her 
young  strength.  She  stole  to  a  window  in  the  entry ; 
and  the  soft  light  of  a  young  moon,  just  large  enough 
to  make  the  darkness  delicious,  made  it  tempting  to 
rest.  The  next  minute,  a  bevy  of  rustling  young  la 
dies  invaded  her  retreat,  which  was  next  the  dressing- 
room. 

"  Make  haste,"  cried  one,  who  had  the  first  chance 
with  her  powder-puff  at  the  glass.  "  They  are  going 
to  have  a  waltz  next ;  and  I  want  to  dance  with  Tom 
Paddleford." 

"  Wait,  can't  you  ?  "  cried  another.  "  My  pannier 
is  all  to  one  side.  That  last  turn.  I  knew  it." 

"  I  always  draw  mine  so  close  that  it  can't  slip," 
said  another  young  lady,  who  quietly  kept  the  glass 
to  herself. 

"  Yes,  and  wears  every  thing  so  tight  she  can  hardly 
breathe,"  whispered  another.  And  the  gay  besiegers 
fled,  with  freshly  adjusted  toilets,  appearing  below 
flushed  and  complacent. 

"  How  sweet  it  looks  in  the  moonshine,"  said  one 
who  lingered,  looking  over  Emeline's  shoulder.  "  It's 
so  warm  in  these  rooms.  Let's  go  out,  and  walk  a 
minute.  It's  lovely  out." 

They  borrowed  a  shawl  apiece  from  the  dressing- 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  147 

room,  and  stole  out  unseen.  The  night  was  a  mild 
one  for  March,  with  the  scents  of  fresh  leaf  and 
sprouting  grass  in  the  air.  The  girls  strolled  down 
the  deep  Lewis  grounds,  back  of  which  were  vacant 
lots,  where  the  turf  was  green  and  soft  as  velvet  and 
the  white-oaks  threw  long  shadows.  They  lin 
gered  in  the  welcome  spell  of  the  moonlight ;  and  the 
younger  one,  with  the  ready  friendliness  of  girls,  stole 
her  arm  round  Emeliiie's  waist,  who  thrilled  at  the 
touch  with  sudden  pleasure.  It  was  new  for  her  to 
be  on  familiar  terms  even  with  her  own  sex.  She  had 
been  kept  at  a  distance  from  all  whom  she  would  have 
liked,  and  had  held  herself  studiously  apart  from  those 
near  her  own  level,  who  would  have  sought  her. 

"  The  Colonel  is  taken  with  you  to-night,"  said  the 
girl,  laughingly.  "  I  hope  you  will  be  good  to  him, 
and  console  him.  He  has  the  best  eye  for  a  pretty 
face  you  ever  saw." 

"  He  has  no  need  to  come  my  way,  then,"  said  Erne- 
line,  disdainfully. 

"  Come,  now.  Do  you  want  to  get  somebody  to 
tell  you  that  you  are  the  handsomest  women  at  the 
wedding  to-night  ?  Everybody  is  noticing  you.  If  I 
just  had  your  good  looks,  there  isn't  a  man  in  Canton 
that  I  would  not  have,  if  I  wanted  him." 

"  Are  they  to  be  had  so  easy  ?  Won't  you  give  me 
some  lessons  ?  " 

"  A  woman  with  such  looks  as  you  have  don't  need 
much  teaching.  But  I  won't  say  any  more.  If  you 
don't  know  what  you  are,  the  men  will  teach  you  fast 
enough.  You  keep  the  Colonel  on  a  string,  and  don't 
let  him  once  get  too  near  you,  or  you  may  be  sorry 
for  it.  Other  girls  have  been.  But  you  can  stay  and 
smell  dew  as  long  as  you  want  to.  I'm  going  in." 


148  •  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Emeline  lingered  a  moment  alone  with  the  secret 
that  had  been  revealed  to  her  by  common  lips.  She 
was  beautiful,  then,  and  very  beautiful,  by  this  girl's 
account.  Was  it  true,  and  could  she  trust  what  such 
a  gossip  said  ?  She  would  try  her  gift,  sometime, 
when  the  right  man  came. 

As  she  rested,  concealed  by  a  screen  of  thorny  lo 
custs,  she  heard  a  tread  turn  off  from  the  street  to  the 
footpath  which  led  past  the  end  of  the  grounds  — 
footsteps  weary  and  dogged,  like  those  of  some  labor 
ing  man  going  from  his  work.  They  stopped  just  by 
the  hedge  where  she  stood,  half  dreading  to  be  ac 
costed  by  some  loiterer.  Moments  passed  ;  and  she 
heard  a  whisper  so  full  of  passion  that  she  thrilled 
with  involuntary  pity  —  "  Oh  !  Mary."  And  the 
slow,  weary  tread  turned  away,  like  feet  dragging 
themselves  from  a  beloved  grave.  Who  was  the 
loiterer,  and  what  did  that  sigh  mean,  the  irrepressi 
ble,  ingenuous  utterance  of  sorrow?  Emeline  had 
heard  of  this  being  a  forced  wedding —  of  a  wronged 
lover  and  a  false  bride.  Had  she  herself  been  called 
to  receive  the  last  sigh  of  a  faithful  heart  grieving 
over  its  priceless  hopes  ?  If  some  one  had  been  BO 
true  to  her,  would  she  allow  it  to  sigh  so  ?  Such 
thoughts,  half  formed,  came  through  the  head  of  the 
girl,  who  stood  bareheaded  under  the  faint  March 
stars,  while  the  wind  that  blew  up  from  the  valley 
seemed  to  bring  hopes  and  promise  of  love  and  all  she 
longed  for  most. 

Games  and  dances  followed  each  other  gayly.  Tom 
Paddleford  was  with  his  chosen  friends  in  a  little  room 
off  the  supper-room,  whence  issued  sounds  of  clinking 
glasses,  loud  talk,  and  uproarious  laughter.  The 


TOM  PADDLEFOKD'S  WEDDING.  149 

bride  left  the  dance  ;  but  no  one  misses  her,  who, 
with  joyless  eye  and  pallid  cheek,  has  contributed  less 
than  any  one  to  the  merriment  of  the  evening.  The 
veil  and  white  dress  have  been  taken  off  by  careful 
hands,  folded,  and  laid  away ;  the  wreath  and  gloves 
placed  in  their  perfumed  boxes  ;  and  her  mother  and 
eldest  bridesmaid  have  left  the  room.  Shouts  of 
laughter  from  the  room  just  below  indicates  that  her 
solitude  will  not  soon  be  disturbed.  For  the  first 
time  that  day,  she  feels  free,  and  draws  a  few  breaths 
of  such  freedom  as  will  henceforth  only  be  left  her 
when  alone.  She  feels  calm,  numb,  like  hunted  crea 
tures  in  the  grasp  of  the  destroyer.  She  goes  to  the 
window,  veiled  by  the  darkness,  and  looks  out  at  the 
silvery  beauty  of  the  first  spring  moon.  She  forgets 
the  moment,  in  the  delicate  shadowy  peace  that  is 
abroad.  A  passing  form  lingers  under  the  trees  by 
the  walk  —  an  idler,  attracted  by  the  lights  and  sound 
within. 

Unhappy  love  has  nothing  to  blind  its  vision.  The 
watcher,  drawn  by  a  strange,  indefinable  impulse,  had 
left  his  solitary  musings  to  see  what  he  might  of  a 
wedding  that  should  have  been  his  own.  He  knew 
the  window  of  the  girl's  chamber,  and,  from  the 
shadow  of  the  trees,  traced  the  white,  slight  figure 
between  the  parted  curtains,  perfectly.  The  same 
numb  calmness  fell  upon  him,  too,  at  the  sight.  He 
could  not  have  told  what  made  him  gaze  at  it,  as  at 
a  coffined  face,  delayed  too  long  from  the  grave  which 
claimed  it.  A  reviving  pang  warned  him  that  the 
waking  from  his  trance  was  near  ;  and,  witli  one  elo 
quent  gesture,  he  flung  his  last  kiss  to  the  silent  phan 
tom  figure,  and  hurried  away. 


150  A   PAPER   CITY. 

From  the  "Forum  of  the  People." 

(The  editor  and  his  family  were  invited  to  the  wed 
ding  ;  and  Mr.  Paddleford  advertised  in  the  "  Fo- 
runi.") 


"BEAUTY    AND    FASHION! 

"  THE  SOCIAL  EVENT  OF  THE  SEASON  I 
"WEDDING  IN  HIGH  LIFE! 

"THE  NUPTIALS  OF  THOS.  PADDLEFORD,  JR.,  AND  MISS  MARY  LEWIS.  — ADORNMENT 
OK  THE  HOME  OF  THE  BRIDE*  S  PARENTS.  — THE  BRILLIANT  THRONG  PRES 
ENT.  THE  CEREMONY.  —  THE  BRIDAL  PRESENTS. 

"  Wednesday  evening  the  most  brilliant  gathering 
that  ever  graced  New  Canton  assembled  to  do  honor 
to  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  Thomas  Paddleford, 
Jr.,  Esq.,  son  of  our  old  and  highly  esteemed  towns 
man,  Thomas  Paddleford,  Sr.,  and  Mary,  daughter  of 
James  Lewis,  an  equally  old  and  well-known  citizen. 

"  The  families  represented  in  this  most  auspicious 
event  are  among  the  most  prominent  of  the  city  ;  and 
the  occasion  was  one  which  caused  too  great  a  nutter 
in  the  high  social  circles  of  New  Canton  to  be  passed 
without  extended  comment. 

"  While  neither  of  the  contracting  parties  was  born 
here,  they  passed  their  earlier  childhood  in  New  Can 
ton,  and  may  be  said  to  have  resided  here  all  their 
lives,  except  the  time  spent  abroad  in  gaining  the  edu 
cation  and  training,  which,  combined  with  mental  en 
dowments  of  no  ordinary  kind,  has  fitted  them  to 
adorn  any  sphere  to  which  they  may  be  called. 

"  It  would  require  a  more  graphic  pen  than  ours  to 
describe  the  splendor  of  the  Lewis  mansion  on  this 
occasion.  The  well-known  taste  of  Mrs.  Lewis,  the 
almost  prodigal  liberality  of  the  father  of  the  bride 
groom,  and  the  exquisite  taste  of  the  bride,  combined, 
made  the  scene  one  of  unparalleled  magnificence, 
which  will  remain  long  in  the  memory  of  those  pres- 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  151 

ent.  We  may  be  pardoned  for  saying  that  we  thought 
we  detected  in  the  floral  display  the  keen  sense  of  the 
beautiful  which  has  always  distinguished  the  bride 
groom,  and  which  every  lady  within  miles  of  the  city 
has  had  occasion,  for  many  years,  to  employ  in  her 
personal  adornment. 

"  The  ample  rooms  of  the  Lewis  mansion  were  filled 
with  the  creme  de  la  creme  of  New  Canton ;  and  many 
of  the  €lite  from  Peoria  and  Chicago  honored  the  nup 
tials  with  their  presence. 

"  At  precisely  nine  o'clock  the  bridal  party  were 
ushered  into  the  grand  parlors.  The  subdued  strains 
of  the  '  Wedding  March,'  rendered  in  the  most  fault 
less  style  by  the  talented  organist  of  the  First  Church, 
Miss  Ganson  (the  elegant  piano  that  has  so  long 
graced  the  Lewis  mansion  was  never  better  employed), 
floated  through  the  air,  and  filled  the  rooms  with  a 
flood  of  melody.  They  took  their  position  under  an 
immense  floral  arch  ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Latimer,  D.  D., 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  stepped  forward,  and,  in 
a  ceremony  remarkable  for  its  good  taste,  pronounced 
the  happy  words  that  united  two  fond  hearts  accord 
ing  to  the  beautiful  formula  of  his  church,  and  two 
loving  souls  were  united  indissolubly. 

"  The  lovely  bride  was  arrayed  in  a  heavy  white 
silk  dress,  low  corsage,  demi-train,  the  sides  looped  up 
with  orange  flowers,  and  profusely  trimmed  with  Val 
enciennes  lace.  Her  brow  was  surmounted  with  a 
wreath  of  exquisite  orange  blossoms,  from  which  is 
sued  the  gauzy  bridal-veil,  which  floated  gracefully  to 
the  floor.  She  attracted  the  attention  of  all,  and  pre 
sented  a  picture  the  like  of  which  Raphael  might  have 
given  half  his  life  to  have  reproduced.  The  groom 
appeared  in  the  conventional  black  full-dress  coat, 
faultless  pantaloons,  and  white  gloves  and  tie. 

"  The  ladies  present  vied  with  each  other  in  the 
magnificence  of  their  toilets.  It  was  the  remark  of 
gentlemen  from  Chicago,  that  never  in  that  city  had 
they  ever  seen  gathered  together  more  elegantly  at 
tired  ladies  or  more  distingue  cavaliers. 


152  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  After  the  ceremony,  the  happy  pair  received  the 
congratulations  of  their  many  friends,  who  all  united 
in  wishing  them  the  most  perfect  happiness,  and  that 
their  life  might  flow  on  as  peacefully  as  course  of  bab 
bling  brooks  through  summer  meadows,  with  no  clouds 
to  ever  cover  their  happy  sky. 

"  The  old  veteran,  Col.  Peppernell,  excited  much 
amusement  by  comparing  the  appearance  of  the  man 
sion,  in  its  dazzling  splendor,  with  the  first  wedding 
he  attended  in  New  Canton.  The  flowers  then  were 
gathered  from  the  prairie,  the  bride  was  arrayed  in 
calico  and  wore  a  smart  white  apron,  and  the  groom 
sported  on  the  occasion  his  best  suit  of  Kentucky 
jeans.  4  There  were  no  crosses  of  flowers  from  Chi 
cago,'  said  the  Colonel ;  '  no  table  groanin'  with  all 
the  luxuries  of  the  season  ;  no  silks  and  satins  and 
velvets  ;  no  floors  covered  with  cloth  for  dancing  ;  but 
there  was  a  log  cabin,  one  room  and  a  big  fire  at  the 
end  of  it;  and  the  refreshments  were  pumpkin  pies 
and  venison  and  hard  cider  —  no  champagne  in  them 
days.  And  the  wedding  presents  —  there  was  no  silver 
cake-baskets  and  things ;  but  we  all  chipped  in  and 
made  up  a  purse  for  the  couple  to  get  'em  something  to 
go  to  housekeepin'.  I  performed  the  ceremony,  as  a 
justice  of  the  peace ;  and  I  gave  'em  my  fee  (which  was 
not  a  twenty-dollar  gold  piece)  and  a  half-dollar  be 
sides.  But  we  danced  as  long  and  were  as  jolly  as  we 
shall  be  to-night.  Earthly  grandeur  counts  but  for 
little.' 

"  It  is  a  bold  flight  of  the  imagination  and  one  can 
scarcely  conceive  of  such  a  thing ;  but,  if  our  hopes 
are  realized,  the  wedding  of  ten  years  hence  will  excel 
this  in  grandeur  as  far  as  this  excelled  the  humble 
scene  so  graphically  described  by  the  distinguished 
director  of  the  land  company. 

"The  bridal  presents  —  composed  of  many  useful 
and  ornamental  articles,  vertu  and  bric-a-brdc  —  were 
rich  and  elegant  in  the  extreme,  and  excited  the  ad 
miration  of  all.  The  following  is  a  partial  list  of 


TOM  PADDLEFORD'S  WEDDING.  153 

them.     Want  of  space  precludes  a,  full  enumeration  : 

"  REV.  MR.  LATIMER  and  WIFE:  book-mark,  with 
Bible,  embroidered  in  two  colors. 

"MR.  CHAS.  BURT  :  deed  of  lot  in  Fourth  Addition 
to  New  Canton. 

"  MRS..CHAS.  BURT  :  silver  cake-basket. 

"  THOS.  PADDLEFORD,  SENIOR,  father  of  the  bride 
groom  :  ten  lots  in  Second  Addition  to  New 
Canton,  deeded  directly  to  the  bride. 

"  MRS.  THOS.  PADDLEFORD,  mother  of  the  bride 
groom  :  set  of  solid  silver  spoons  and  richly 
plated  knives. 

"  COL.  SETH  PEPPERNELL  :  to  bride  and  bridegroom 
each  a  lot  in  Third  Addition  to  New  Canton. 

"  SQUIRE  SHARP  :  lot  in  North  Addition. 

"  CAPT.  PEAK  :  lot  in  North  Addition. 

"  MRS.  CAPT.  PEAK:  silver  cake-basket. 

"  MRS.  SQUIRE  SHARP  :  solid  silver  napkin-ring. 

"  MRS.  COL.  PEPPERNELL  :  silver  cake-basket. 

"  MRS.  ABSOLOM  THOMPSON  :  silver  cake-basket. 

"  MRS.  J.  G.  ROBINSON  :  silver  napkin-ring. 

"  MR.  and  MRS.  PETTENGILL  :  silver  cake-baskefc. 

"MRS.  PETER  TORRENCE:  elegant  carved  wooden 
salad-fork  and  spoon. 

"  MR.  and  MRS.  SAM'L  MARSH  :  silver  cake-baskets. 

"  MR.  and  Mrs.  PETTIGREW  and  DAUGHTERS  :  pair 
of  solid  silver  napkin-rings. 

"  MR.  and  MRS.  SHUBAEL  SANDERS  :  pair  vases. 

"MR.  and  MRS.  NAT.  HAUGHTON:  silver  cake-bas 
ket. 
"  There  were  other  presents  equally  valuable,  from 

almost  every  family  in  the  city,  who  took  this  method 

of  testifying  their  respect  for  the  happy  pair." 

From  the  "  Sentinel" 

(The  Paddlefords  did  not  advertise  in  the  "  Senti 
nel,"  and  the  editor  was  not  invited.) 

"Thos.  Paddleford,  of  the  firm  of  Paddleford  & 


154  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Son,  was  married,  Wednesday  night,  to  Miss  Mary  A. 
Lewis.  A  very  respectable  company,  in  point  of 
numbers,  was  present." 

The  next  morning  Tom  Paddleford  gazed  at  the 
presents,  so  ostentatiously  displayed,  and  tried  very 
hard  to  preserve  a  smiling  exterior.  But  it  was  a 
failure.  He  turned  away  with  disgust  so  plainly  de 
picted  on  his  features  as  to  be  visible  to  any  one. 

"  Fifteen  cake-baskets  and  thirty-one  napkin-rings, 
and  all  of  them  plated  except  ma's,  and  that  I  have 
to  pay  for.  Popham,  the  jeweler,  had  a  big  stock  on 
hand,  and  closed  'em  out  cheap.  We  deal  in  the  same 
goods,  but  nobody  bought  'em  of  us.  Bah  !  " 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  155 


CHAPTER    XI. 

AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT  IN  NEW  CANTON. 

JAMES  GARDINER  had  always  promised  himself, 
that,  when  a  clergyman  should  pronounce  him 
"  man  "  to  some  one  else's  daughter,  he  would  begin 
being  good,  in  the  sense  that  the  world  has  it.  On 
the  altar  of  Hymen  he  would  sacrifice  all  his  vices, 
and  all  his  foibles  should  evaporate  in  the  rose-colored 
cloud  above  it.  All  young  men  swear  this,  just  as  on 
the  second  of  January,  their  heads  aching  with  the 
wine  taken  at  calls,  they  swear  off  drinking.  On  the 
third,  when  they  feel  better,  they  fix  the  date  of  their 
quitting  ;  and,  that  they  may  have  time  to  strengthen 
for  their  effort,  they  prudently  make  it  the  next  New 
Year. 

When  he  became  the  head  of  a  family,  James  would 
bury  his  meerschaum,  give  away  his  fowling-piece  and 
fishing-tackle,  burn  his  cards,  read  novels  sparingly, 
and  settle  down  to  law.  He  would  revive  his  ambi 
tion  ;  he  would  attend  to  business  ;  he  would  specu 
late  ;  he  would  attend  caucuses,  and  get  into  the  leg 
islature,  and  finally  into  Congress  ;  in  short,  he  would 
follow  the  paths  of  a  legitimate  American  ambition, 
and,  possibly,  die  in  a  senatorial  chair. 

But  the  stern  edict  of  the  Lewis  pere  —  that  is  to 


156  A    PAPER    CITY. 

say,  of  the  Lewis  mere  —  and  the  fatal  weakness  of 
Mary  killed  this  out  of  him.  His  love  was  gone  \  and 
he  did  not  care  what  became  of  what  life  left  him. 
She  had  been  the  very  light  in  his  sky  ;  and  when  it 
faded  out  he  would  no  longer  lift  his  eyes  in  that  di 
rection.  But  in  the  other?  Hell  is  easier  to  find 
than  Heaven ;  for  its  doors  are  never  closed,  and  it 
never  puts  out  its  guiding-lights.  A  man  can  always 
take  refuge  there,  as  Gardiner  discovered  ;  and  he 
turned  his  face  that  way  with  the  only  determination 
that  had  ever  characterized  him. 

"  He  had  a  weakness  for  that  girl,  and  it  has  run 
into  recklessness,"  said  his  friends.  "  He  will  get 
over  it  in  a  month."  But  they  were  mistaken. 

He  did  nt>t  get  into  his  bad  habits  by  degrees,  as 
men  generally  do.  He  made  a  business  of  them.  His 
office  was  the  headquarters  of  the  wildest  young  men 
in  town  ;  and  the  games  of  poker  played  there  nightly 
made  Peppernell's  hair  stand  on  end,  when  he  heard 
of  the  way  the  boys  were  going  on.  It  must  be  con 
fessed  that  James's  idleness,  his  easy  way  of  taking 
life,  and  most  of  his  former  associates,  made  the  way 
to  recklessness  very  smooth  to  him.  His  amusements 
had  on  occasion  been  as  high-flavored  as  those  of  most 
young  men  born  with  money  ;  and  he  had  cultivated 
games  of  chance  and  skill  to  such  purpose  that  he 
could  give  points  to  the  oldest  hand  in  the  village. 
He  seldom  slept ;  or,  if  he  did  sleep,  no  one  could  tell 
when.  The  little  glass  bottle  had  given  way  to  a 
demijohn,  which  was  never  allowed  to  get  empty  ;  and 
it  came  to  the  point  that  he  was  to  be  seen  at  Pilkin's 
doggery  at  all  times  when  he  had  not  something  worse 
to  do.  He  would  leave  the  office  with  his  hangers-on, 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  157 

after  daylight,  and,  with  bloodshot  eyes  and  matted 
hair,  go  into  the  bar-rooms  and  "billiard-parlors,"  to 
get  stimulated  for  the  day's  work.  -Then  woe  to  the 
man  who  crossed  his  humor ;  for  he  was  strong  as  a 
lion  and  ferocious  as  a  bear. 

Yet,  in  losing  the  preciseness  of  respectability,  he 
was  no  less  handsome.  His  fiery,  reckless  air  was  fit 
to  take  the  imagination  of  an  impressible  girl,  if  she 
believed  (and  what  woman  does  not?)  herself  strong 
enough  to  hold  the  handsome  animal  in  check.  The 
loosely-tied,  high-colored  handkerchief  about  his  neck 
fitted  his  style  better  than  the  plain  black  bow  of  his 
careful  days ;  and  the  prompt  recklessness  of  his  ac 
tions  was  more  taking  than  his  careless,  loun^ino- 

O  &         t3 

manners  before.  He  never  stopped  to  think.  It 
pleased  him  to  indulge  every  impulse  ;  and  he  troubled 
himself  as  little  with  forethought  as  with  repentance. 
He  was  sitting  one  evening  like  the  French  fashion 
of  the  boulevards,  with  other  loafers,  before  Pilkin's 
saloon.  James  prided  himself  on  his  democracy  now 
adays,  and  professed  not  to  be  above  seeing  good  in 
any  company.  He  found  a  vast  fund  of  worldly  wis 
dom  in  Slack  Williams's  not  overclean  and  carving- 
knife  observations  on  human  nature,  in  general,  and 
all  property-holders  in  town  who  paid  tax  on  more 
than  twenty-five  cents'  worth  of  estate,  in  particular. 
He  found  an  appetite  for  the  scraps  of  songs,  satiric 
and  beastly,  which  that  worthy  could  troll  out,  in  a 
VDice  that  had  been  worth  better  matter.  James 
made  the  excuse  to  himself  that  he  never  listened  to 
such  things  unless  he  was  in  liquor.  But  he  took 
care  to  be  in  that  state  most  of  the  time.  When  he 
woke  up  in  the  morning,  he  could  not  remember  much 


158  A   PAPER   CITY. 

of  the  evening  before,  but  a  general  suggestion  of 
foulness,  as  if  he  had  slept  in  a  night-hawk's  nest ; 
and  his  head  ached  too  badly  to  leave  much  attention 
for  his  distracted  morals.  There  was  no  getting  over 
the  ache  without  a  stiff  dose  of  alcohol,  now  turned 
medicine.  All  the  noons  of  his  past,  of  love  and 
hope,  tormented  him,  till  he  would  have  flown  to  the 
breast  of  Hecate  for  relief;  and  at  night  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  go  through  the  same  routine  of 
chaff,  cards,  and  whisky,  now  taken  as  refreshment, 
and  thus  turned  the  endless  chain  till  next  morning. 

On  this  evening  in  particular  the  fun  was  low ;  and 
one  of  the  oldest  of  the  set  rose  with  a  laugh,  declar 
ing  that  he  could  find  more  fun  at  home,  in  a  tone 
that  intimated  satire  could  no  further  go  than  to  sug 
gest  any  thing  attractive  with  one's  family.  The  rest 
waxed  sulkier  at  his  desertion,  till  one  of  them,  spy 
ing  a  woman  coming  down  Pilkin's  side  of  the  walk, 
which  women  were  usually  shy  of,  prepared  for  sport. 
The  light  was  uncertain  ;  and  he  sprawled  over  the 
narrow  walk  so  that  his  foot  unavoidably  caught  her 
skirt,  as  she  hurried  past.  She  stumbled  and  nearly 
fell.  The  ruffian  uttered  a  coarse  laugh,  volunteering 
the  excuse  that  he  "  wasn't  used  to  being  carried 
away  by  strange  women  so  sudden,"  and  advised  her 
to  "  turn  her  pretty  face  to  account,  though  it  wasn't 
so  ketchen,  after  all.'' 

He  lacked  teeth  and  voice  for  further  insult,  by 
reason  of  finding  the  one  knocked  down  his  throat 
and  the  other  clean  out  of  it,  while  he  fell  prostrate 
under  the  uplifted  arm  of  James  Gardiner. 

The  impulse  of  citizens  under  the  chivalry  of  rum 
is  to  hit  first  and  ask  what  the  matter  is  afterward. 


159 

And  this  inquiry  was  hissed  out  with  poor  Jim's  head 
between  Sandy  Beverstock's  arms,  in  a  grip  in  which 
thought  was  fragmentary.  For  it  was  Sandy's  friend 
who  was  lying  prostrate  ;  and  he  had  been  stricken 
down  for  doing  what  Sandy  would  have  done,  had  it 
occurred  to  him.  It  is  usually  the  chivalric  young 
fellow  who  knocks  everybody  out  of  his  boots,  and 
only  comes  off  with  scratches  enough  for  his  girl  to 
cry  over ;  but  the  writer,  not  being  largely  educated 
in  polite  fiction,  can  only  describe  things  as  they  fall 
under  the  eye  in  common  life.  There  the  biggest  fel 
low  with  most  skill  invariably  comes  off  best.  Now 
Sandy,  being  a  larger  man  and  more  skilled  in  en 
counters  of  the  sort,  and  less  under  the  influence  of 
liquor,  and  having,  moreover,  the  sympathy  and  sup 
port  of  the  assembled  crowd,  was  proceeding  to  pun 
ish  the  chivalrous  James  severely,  when  there  was  a 
rush  that  parted  them. 

"  What's  all  this  about?  "  asked  Peppernell,  on  his 
way  to  the  Continental  for  his  game  at  cards.  "  Jim, 
what  is  Sandy  pounding  you  for  ?  " 

"  He's  a  white-livered  dog,  and  so  is  every  one  who 
stands  by  him.  He  insulted  a  lady,  and  I  struck  him 
for  it."  " 

"Who  was  the  lady?"  not  unnaturally  inquired 
Col.  Peppernell. 

Not  one  of  them  could  tell,  till  a  timid  loafer,  in  the 
background,  whose  acquaintance  was  more  extensive 
than  the  rest,  tendered  the  information  that  it  was 
old  Butterfield's  girl. 

The  loafers  only  remembered  the  girl  in  her  early 
days,  coupled  with  her  father's  notorious  disregard  of 
appearances  and  decencies  ;  and  the  word  was  re- 


160  A   PAPER   CITY. 

ceived  with  screams  of  derisive  laughter,  which  put 
the  crowd  in  good  humor  directly.  —  "  Old  Butter- 
field's  girl,  down  by  the  swamp  !  "  —  "  Butterfield's 
girl,  that  hitches  up  the  horses  !  "  —  "  Seen  her  dig 
ging  taters,  barefoot,  frosty  mornings!"  —  "Father 
no  better  than  a  hoss-thief !  "  and  so  on. 

"  My  young  friend's  gallantry  does  him  honor," 
said  Col.  Peppernell,  drawing  James's  arm  through 
his. 

"  Hurt's  handsome  housekeeper,"  he  said,  not  care 
ful  how  the  crowd  heard  him.  "  Your  spirit  does  you 
the  more  credit,  shown  in  defense  of  a  servant-girl. 
She's  handsome  enough  for  a  man  to  skin  himself 
for." 

James  had  a  memory  of  dark  eyes  which  flashed  up 
into  his,  as  he  sprang  against  the  rough,  Sandy ;  but 
the  fact  of  the  matter  was  he  would  have  fought  for 
Peppernell's  Durham  heifer,  or  Pilkin's  cat,  if  oppor 
tunity  had  offered  that  night.  His  nerves  were  over 
strung,  and  wanted  some  excitement  to  restore  them 
to  their  tension.  He  felt  a  little  awkward  at  finding 
that  his  gallantry  had  been  expended  on  a  girl  who 
had  been  a  chambermaid  in  a  hotel,  and  was  now  a 
housekeeper,  and  a  pretty  one  enough  to  make  him 
the  subject  of  the  sly  jokes  of  the  crowd.  If  it  had 
been  Miss  Clymer,  for  instance,  the  lady  librarian  of 
the  village,  or  Grace  Gibson,  who  sang  in  the  choir, 
he  would  have  shone  with  becoming  spirit;  but  to 
fight  for  a  "  pot-walloper,"  as  he  put  it  to  himself,  put 
his  prowess  outside  the  pale  of  polite  approval.  There 
was  nothing  further  for  it  but  to  spread  his  shirt- 
collar  open  further,  call  his  democracy  to  his  aid,  and 
declare  that  he  would  as  soon  help  a  kitchen-girl  as 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  161 

the  best  lady  in  town,  and  he  wasn't  going  to  see  any 
woman  put  upon  by  any  miserable  wretch  whose 
mother  hadn't  taught  him  to  behave  himself  when  la 
dies  were  about. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  man  he  knocked  down 
and  Sandy  B overstock  were  in  the  saloon,  he  walked 
boldly  in,  and  ordered  drinks  for  them  all,  and  stayed 
there,  perfectly  willing  that  they  should  assault  him 
again,  if  they  chose  to.  Peppernell  had,  however, 
quieted  the  party ;  and  no  further  unpleasantness 
grew  out  of  it,  though  Sandy  came  up,  rather  osten 
tatiously,  once  or  twice,  and  glared  at  him.  But, 
when  he  saw  Jim's  determined  manner,  and  realized, 
that,  if  he  "  tackled  "  him,  he  would  have  to  take  him 
alone,  and  it  would  be  an  expensive  victory,  he  con 
tended  himself  with  glaring  at  him  in  the  ferocious 
way  of  ruffians  when  tolerably  certain  that  they  will 
have  to  make  the  attack. 

The  woman  in  question,  as  soon  as  she  could  re 
cover  her  footing,  started  on  a  frightened  walk,  that 
never  slackened  till  she  found  herself  on  the  high 
road  leading  out  of  town.  As  she  paused  by  the 
bank,  in  the  friendly  dusk  and  starlight,  she  found 
that  tears  wet  her  cheek.  It  was  characteristic  of 
the  girl  that  she  sat  down  in  a  sheltered  nook,  and 
cried  her  shaken  quiet  back,  then  set  off,  with  interior 
calmness,  over  her  long,  lonesome  road.  A  mile  and 
a  half  brought  her  to  a  low  house,  half  buried  in  trees. 
Her  step  was  waited  for  by  a  tall,  thin  woman  ;  and 
a  boy,  in  rough  jacket  and  barefoot,  sprang  at  her,  in 
company  with  a  pet  dog.  Which  was  most  glad  to 
meet  her,  it  was  hard  to  tell. 

"  You  were  out  watching  for  me  ?  "  asked  the  girl 
of  the  mother.  (11) 


162 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


"  To  see  if  you  were  coming  to-night,"  was  the  an 
swer,  with  slight  habitual  repression.  «  We  could 
see  you  coming  up  the  bend,  in  this  moonlight,  if  you 
were  coming  at  all." 

The  bend  was  nearly  a  mile  away. 
"  Father's  gone  to  Lexington,  and  said  he  shouldn't 
be  home  till  late,"  was  the  boy's  first  speech,  made  as 
if  it  was  a  piece  of  news  which  removed  the  only  bar 
to  entire  freedom  and  privilege. 

"  Come  in,"  cried  Emeline,  her  joyous  self  again, 
leading  the  way,  under  the  leaning  orchard  boughs,' 
to  the  house.  "  You  dear  little  tow-head  !  How  I 
do  love  to  see  you  again  !  Ring,  you  beautiful,  black- 
coated  fellow,  are  you  glad  to  see  me?  "—  catching 
the  boy,  and  then  the  dog,  and  smothering  them  with 
kisses,  which  both  returned  with  fervor.  She  had 
them  both  in  her  arms  at  once,  where  the  boy  stayed, 
while  the  dog  set  off  on  a  chase  round  the  room,  giv 
ing  a  short  bark  at  intervals,  as  if  to  relieve  his  feel 
ings.  «  Mother,  put  yourself  where  I  can  look  at  you," 
said  the  girl,  looking  up,  her  warm  cheek  flushed  with 
kisses.  "  How  nice  the  place  looks  !  I  should  know 
father  was  away,  or  you  never  would  have  got  so 
much  cleaning  done.  Where  did  you  get  these  flow 
ers  ?  "  springing  up  to  the  rude  mantle,  where  a  tum 
bler  held  the  first  and  freshest  spring  tribute willow 

catkins,  yellow  and  perfumy,  with  blossoms  of  the 
birch  and  red  sprays  of  blossom-like  leafage,  that  shed 
faint  incense  through  the  room. 

'  Tom  went  for  them,  when  he  got  done  plowing. 
He  would  have  been  disappointed  if  you  hadn't  come 
to  see  them." 

"  They're  for  my  pretty  sister,"  said  the  boy,  who 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  163 

looked  almost  a  child  by  reason  of  his  small  stature 
and  innocent  face.  "  And,  oh,  Em  !  "  with  profound 
mystery,  going  to  the  closet,  bringing  a  crown  of  wil 
low  blossoms,  and  dropping  it  lightly  on  her  head. 
"I  saw  those;  and  they  looked  like  you;  and  I 
climbed  for  them.  Yes,"  putting  his  head  on  one  side 
a  little,  and  marking  the  effect,  "  they're  the  right 
thing ;  I'm  satisfied." 

This  opinion,  pronounced  with  great  gravity,  was 
enough  to  upset  an  ordinary  mortal ;  but  these  wo 
men  had  not  been  trained  to  laugh.  They  smiled 
contentedly,  and  with  deep  affection,  at  the  boy  ;  and 
Emeline  began  opening  several  packages  with  which 
she  had  loaded  herself. 

"  Tom,  I  suppose  you  think  I've  forgotten  you,  be 
cause  I  al\va}7s  do,"  —  a  sisterly  fiction.  "  Here  are 
all  the  pieces  of  pie  and  cake  I  had  for  my  share  after 
the  wedding ;  and  there's  enough  to  make  a  little  boy 
stop  growing,  if  he  eats  enough  of  them.  There  is 
one  with  a  little  white  rose  in  the  frosting,  and  one 
with  a  sugar  dove  ;  and  some  fruit-cake  I  advise  you 
to  keep  till  it's  blue-moldy,  and  then  throw  away  with 
out  eating  it.  It's  all  nightmare  and  indigestion  — 
don't  you  see  how  black  it  is  ?  Here  it  goes  !  "  pop 
ping  a  piece  into  his  mouth,  in  conclusion  to  the  ha 
rangue. 

"  O-o-oh  !  "  danced  the  boy,  cutting  capers  noise 
lessly.  "  With  white  sugar  on,  Em  !  Oh  !  don't  they 
look  pretty?  Mother,  I  didn't  think  it  would  be  a 
feast  when  Em  came  home.  Let  me  have  the  white 
plate  to  put  them  on,  —  the  white  plate,  mother,  — 
and  see  how  it  seems  to  eat  real  white  and  nice,  like 
people.  I  can't  do  any  thing  but  look  at  it  now  ;  but 


164  A   PAPER   CITY. 

I  shall  think  so  much  of  myself  when  I  get  to  eating 
that  cake."  And  Tom,  in  his  ecstasy,  balanced  him 
self  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  with  hands  spread  out, 
but  quietly,  his  whole  face  lighted  up  in  adoration  of 
the  cake,  which  shone  white  and  beautiful  to  his  eyes 
as  crumbs  from  a  fairy  feast. 

When  he  had  eyed  it  long  enough,  he  took  off  all 
the  least  temping  portions,  and  laid  them  on  the  table, 
then  took  the  plate,  silently  traveled  round  the  stove, 
and  put  it  in  his  mother's  lap,  without  a  word. 

"  I  couldn't  eat  it  without  she  did,"  was  his  matter- 
of-course  explanation.  Em's  eyes  shone  a  little  at  the 
sight. 

"  Tom,  going  to  church  to-morrow?" 

"  Why,  no,"  with  a  injured  look.  "  What  do  you 
ask  such  a  fool  question  for,  when  you  know  I  haven't 
got  any  boots  ?  " 

"  Plis  father  made  him  put  a  piece  of  old  oilcloth 
inside  his  shoes,  where  the}7  are  broken,  to  wear  wet 
days,  when  he  had  to  be  out  plowing  ;  and  that's  all 
he's  got  till  after  taxes  are  paid." 

"  Do  you  think  these  would  fit  you,  Tom  ?  "  cried 
Emeline,  holding  out  a  pair,  shining  as  boy's  boots 
never  shone  before.  "It's  a  pair  Mrs.  Burt  told  me 
to  throw  away,  when  we  cleaned  house.  I  got  them 
mended  down  town,  and  they  look  neat  as  new.  I 
went  after  them  to-night,  down  to  the  other  end  of  the 
street ;  and  that's  what  made  me  so  late.  Job  Fitz- 
hugh  gave  'em  a  good  blacking  for  me.  I'll  get  you 
a  new  pair,  Tom,  when  I  come  to  it ;  but  I  want  to 
get  mother  fixed  out  a  little,  and  the  house." 

"  Was  the  wedding  a  large  one  ?  "  asked  the  mother, 
as  if  the  question  was  out  of  pure  civility.  Emeline 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  165 

threw  herself  down  on  the  lounge,  luxuriously  ;  and 
her  eyes  sparkled  as  she  prepared  to  tell  her  mother, 
her  only  confidant,  the  evening's  triumphs  and  plea 
sures.  Old  Hannah  Butterfield  sat  at  ease  in  the  big 
rocking-chair,  with  mild  pride  and  pleasure  softening 
the  immovable  expression  of  her  face.  The  boy,  curled 
on  the  floor  at  the  sister's  feet,  looked  up  in  her  face, 
admiring,  wrapped  up  in  what  she  had  to  tell. 

"  Everybody  was  stiff  enough  for  awhile.  The  gen 
tlemen  stood  by  themselves,  and  the  girls  waved  their 
fans  at  them  ;  but  they  didn't  come.  The  old  ladies  had 
time  to  ask  after  everybody  in  their  families,  from  the 
grandmothers  to  the  last  baby.  The  girls  got  the 
bride  dressed  half  an  hour  after  the  time  for  the  cere 
mony  ;  and  the  last  thing,  a  yard  of  trimming,  ripped 
off,  and  had  to  be  basted  on  again  :  and  Miss  Peak 
came  for  me  to  do  it ;  for  she  was  dressed,  and  all  the 
rest  of  the  bridesmaids  were  dressed,  and  they  couldn't 
kneel  down  to  get  at  the  flounce.  So  I  had  the  best 
chance  to  see  what  their  dresses  were.  Miss  Lewis 
was  as  white  as  if  she  was  faint,  anyhow :  but  the 
bridesmaids  put  a  little  powder  on,  to  make  her  look 
interesting,  they  said.  Norman  Peak  came  up,  and 
said  they  must  hurry  ;  for  everybody  was  waiting,  and 
the  minister  had  to  go  four  miles  to  see  a  sick  woman 
after  the  ceremony.  Miss  Lewis  said  they  might  as 
well  go,  and  have  it  over  with  ;  and  the  way  she 
swept  off  showed  she  was  her  mother's  own  child,  for 
all  her  delicate  looks.  Mother,  what  is  there  sounds 
so  sweet  to  a  woman  as  the  swish,  swish  of  a  white 
silk  dress  ?  Talk  about  the  winds  in  the  trees  !  I'd 
rather  hear  silk  a  thousand  times  ;  for  it  tells  about 
happy  things  and  lovely  things,  —  people  without  care, 
being  admired  and  making  love. 


166  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  Then  Mr.  Latimer  performed  the  ceremony :  he 
was  short  with  his  good  advice ;  and  he  dwelt  on  the 
mutual-forbearance  part,  as  if  he  thought  it  would  be 
called  for.  All  the  folks  needed  something  to  revive 
them  after  the  suspense ;  and  nothing  was  to  be 
thought  of,  after  the  congratulations,  but  supper. 
And  wasn't  the  bride-cake  complimented  ? 

"  Tom,  can't  you  give  me  an  opinion  on  it  by  this 
time  ?  " 

uHow  did  you  enjoy  it?"  asked  the  mother, 
wrapped  up  in  her  bright,  lovely  daughter,  with  no 
ear  for  any  fortunes  but  hers. 

"  Well,  my  dress  fit  like  a  bad  character  ;  and  that 
was  more  than  several  better  ones  there  did.  I  squan 
dered  a  dollar  in  crape  ruches,  they  look  so  frosty  and 
soft ;  and  then  three  yards  of  velvet  ribbon  to  tie 
round  my  neck,  as  the  young  ladies  wear  it.  Mother, 
two  weeks'  wages  gone  in  finery  for  that  wedding !  " 

"  Well,  it's  time  you  thought  of  yourself,"  remarked 
Hannah,  as  if  she  were  stating  the  most  matter-of-fact 
idea  in  the  world.  "  You've  put  all  your  year's  earn 
ings  on  this  rack-a-bones  of  a  place  and  on  us,  and 
goti  nothing  but  a  thank-you  for  it ;  and  that's  all 
you're  likely  to  get.  It  did  me  good  to  know  you 
were  going  to  spend  that  money  on  something  that 
would  please  nobody  but  yourself." 

"  There  has  been  something  done,  and  money  never 
went  better,"  said  Erneline,  looking  up  with  a  little 
pardonable  complacence.  The  place  showed  a  foster 
ing  hand  that  had  carefully  tended  taste  and  conveni 
ence.  Sundry  furnishings  were  to  be  seen,  which,  in 
that  country,  were  only  found  in  better  houses.  It 
looked  oddly,  in  that  log  house,  with  rough-cast  walls 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  167 

and  the  small,  sunken  windows  which  no  carpenter 
could  ever  make  straight,  to  see,  instead  of  the  tradi 
tional  green-paper  shades  of  the  region,  white  spring 
blinds,  as  stainless  and  well-fitted  as  the  pride  of  a  New 
York  housekeeper  at  her  parlor  windows.  A  curtained 
corner  cupboard  showed  a  glimpse  of  a  neat  set  of 
white  ware  ;  —  not  china,  but  the  best  of  its  kind  ;  — 
and  the  home-made  lounge,  covered  with  glazed  calico, 
was  inviting  enough  for  a  lady's  chamber,  with  its 
frills  and  pillows.  A  low,  walnut  rocker  and  a  care 
fully  kept  Shaker  arm-chair,  the  most  comfortable 
things  in  the  way  of  seats,  kept  company  with  a  pretty 
and  substantial  work-table  ;  nor  was  there  wanting  a 
good  paper  and  book  for  leisure  hours. 
^  Emeline  lay  a  moment,  taking  in  these  things,  the 
sight  of  which,  earned  by  months  of  toil,  was  fresh 
pleasure  every  time  she  looked  at  them  ;  but  the  mo 
ments  of  Saturday  evening's  visit  once  a  fortnight  were 
precious,  and  there  was  more  to  be  told. 

"  You  couldn't  go  to  the  wedding,  so  I've  brought 
part  of  it  to  you,  mother,"  the  girl  said,  seizing  one 
of  her  unopened  bundles,  with  which  she  fled  to  her 
own  little  room.      Agitated  sounds  were  heard  there 
for  a  few  minutes,  —  fewer  than  ever  lady  who  reads 
these  lines  takes  to  dress,  — and  there  was  silence. 
Turning  their  heads,  the  woman  and  the  boy  saw  a 
picture  lovely  enough  to  fill  a  panel  in  a  king's  cabi 
net.     Emeline  stood  there,  in  her  party  dress,  the  pale 
lavender,  made  like   the' princess  robe  of  our   time 
which  shows  the  lines  of  a  full  figure  so  deliciously, 
the  feathery  willow  blossoms  lying  in  a  golden  crown 
upon  the  silken  waves  of  her  hair,  and  her  arms  clasped 
before  her  with  that  exquisite  turn  of  the  arms  which 


168  A   PAPER   CITY. 

no  woman  without  the  instinct  of  grace  ever  attains. 
It  was  a  girl's  masquerade,  got  up  for  home,  —  for 
eyes  that  seldom  rested  on  any  thing  but  poor  and 
common  objects  ;  and  a  sweet  picture  she  was  for  their 
delight.  The  hair  rippled  away  from  her  wide  fore 
head  in  the  old  Greek  fashion  ;  her  cheeks  were  burn 
ing,  with  the  wind  and  the  walk,  through  the  creamy 
dusk  of  her  face  ;  and  her  eyes  shone  like  stars  with 
gladness  and  affection,  as  she  stood  there,  drinking  in 
the  admiration  of  those  dear  ones,  for  it  was  passion 
ately  sweet  to  her.  The  whole  world  lived  for  her 
in  those  two  —  the  gaunt  woman  and  the  barefooted 
boy,  who  gazed  at  her  with  all  the  longing  of  a  barren 
life  gratified  in  that  moment.  Old  Hannah  Butter- 
field  drew  her  breath  softly,  to  think  she  had  mothered 
so  fair  a  thing,  and  forced  herself  back  to  her  usual 
repression. 

"  The  Lord  be  good  to  you,  with  those  looks,  Erne- 
line,"  was  all  she  said. 

The  young  beauty,  in  her  delicate  dress  and  golden 
willow  crown,  threw  her  arms  about  her  mother  at 
this,  and  held  her,  looking  into  her  face  with  such 
ardor  as,  in  their  children's  eyes,  compensates  mothers 
for  all  their  pangs  and  the  struggle  of  afterlife.  The 
mother  and  brother  sat  by  in  happy  content.  The 
wedding  had  come  to  them  in  their  own  beautiful  girl, 
with  her  soft  dress  and  every  leaf  and  ornament  she 
had  worn  before,  and  the  white  and  spicy  fragments 
of  the  feast  she  spread  before  them.  The  spirit  of  fun 
in  her  came  out  in  the  freedom  of  home.  She  re 
hearsed  Peppernell's  speeches,  and  made  the  humors 
of  the  evening  live  for  them  —  how  Mrs.  Lewis's  older 
sister,  whose  husband  was  worth  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 


AN  EVENING'S  AMUSEMENT.  169 

lion,  took  off  her  white  gloves  at  supper,  and  folded 
them  in  a  piece  of  brown  paper,  and  putting  them  in 
her  pocket ;  and  little  Mrs.  Mole  capered  about  her  hus 
band,  protesting  she  felt  like  flirting  dreadfully,  but 
couldn't  find  anybody  to  flirt  with  her ;  and  Miss  Cleve 
preferred  to  sit  close  in  a  corner  all  the  evening,  and 
"  study  human  nature,"  as  she  said,  forgetting  that 
she  was  human  and  might  afford  a  study  to  others  in 
turn.  Emeline  swam,  floated,  shone  before  them  for 
ten  mortal  minutes  — the  loveliest  Emeline  that  ever 
bewitched  in  a  three-shilling  gown. 

In  this  warm  and  peaceful  hour,  the  sounds  of 
wheels  in  the  lane  were  heard ;  and  fun  and  comfort 
fled,  like  lights  and  laughter  from  a  fairy-ring.  Eme 
line  hurried  to  her  own  room,  and  tore  off  the  dress  • 
Tom  was  up  the  stairs  and  in  bed  before  the  wagon 
was  stopped  ;  and  Mrs.  Butterfield  lighted  a  lantern, 
and  went  to  help  put  up  the  horses,  as 'was  her  wont,' 
to  save  the  tired  little  fellow,  who  else  would  have 
had  all  to  do.  Her  presence  Avas  acknowledged  with 
out  a  word.  The  new-comer  watered  and  fed  his 
team,  and  stalked  into  the  house  in  solemn  silence. 

4  What  ye  up  for,  burning  kerosene  this  time  o' 
night  ?  "  was  the  first  speech.  «  Oil's  most  gone.  I 
could  have  put  the  horses,  if  you'd  left  the  lantern ; 
or  you  might  have  called  Tom  up." 

To  this  the  prudent  wife  made  no  answer ;  and  the 
man  ate  his  supper  of  bread  and  milk  in  a  surly  si 
lence. 

"  Tom  planted  those  potatoes? "  he  asked,  as  he  set 
down  his  bowl.  And  this  was  aU  he  had  to  say  at 
home-coming.  Shortly  after,  he  turned  heavily  into 
bed. 


170  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Emeline  lay  looking  out  through  a  crack  in  the  roof, 
that  many  a  time  had  let  in  heaven  and  starbeams  to 
her  pillow,  and  let  her  thoughts  go  free.  The  fright 
on  the  street  came  back  to  her.  The  coarse  grasp,  at 
which  her  heart  bounded  as  the  ruffian  caught  and 
set  her  on  her  feet,  the  insulting  words,  and  the  one 
reeling  moment,  in  which  she  looked  up,  to  see  a 
flushed,  handsome  face  blazing  between  her  and  her 
tormentor,  before  she  fled  down  the  street.  But, 
short  as  the  moment  was,  it  was  one  of  those  which 
might  last  longer  than  her  life.  Soft,  unvisited,  deli 
cate,  her  nature  needed  but  to  come  under  the  glow  of 
that  handsome,  generous  ardor  to  receive  the  impression 
forever.  It  was  with  a  child's  joy  she  thought  of  the 
bold,  kind,  daring  face  that  had  come  to  her  help  ; 
and,  glad  that  such  strong,  quick,  generous  creatures 
live  for  the  protection  of  those  weaker  than  them 
selves,  she  fell  asleep. 


THE   UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF   THE   CITY.  171 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  UPS   AND  DOWNS   OF  THE   CITY.  —  A   LAWSUIT. 

TO  write  the  history  of  New  Canton  is  to  write 
of  changes  rapid  as  the  shifts  of  a  pantomime. 

"  It  may  take'  years,"  Burt  would  say,  "  or  it  may 
come  sooner  ;  but  fortune  must  come.  It  was  by  no 
chance  that  Chicago  is  where  it  is.  It  was  no  chance 
that  made  London  the  financial  center  of  the  world,  or 
New  York  the  metropolis  of  America.  And  the  same 
laws  that  made  them  will  make  New  Canton.  I  may 
never  see  it ;  but  my  children  will  —  that  is,  if  I  had 
children." 

Thus  saying,  he  would  resume  his  business  in  a 
clean-shaven,  serene  way,  with  the  look  of  a  man  who 
had  made  a  discovery  of  inestimable  value  to  human- 
ity. 

Mr.  Gardiner  was  nervous  about  the  land  company. 
His  loss  in  New  York  was  not  generally  known  ;  but 
it  had  crippled  him  seriously.  He  had  advanced 
heavily  to  the  land  company  ;  and  he  had  not  enough 
coming  in  from  his  deposits  to  meet  the  demands  made 
upon  him,  without  borrowing,  and  was  impatient  to 
realize  something  from  the  company. 

The  demands  on  his  capital  wer.e  larger  than  ever 
before.  Lewis,  who  had  formerly  been  ready  to  play 


172  A  PAPER   CITY. 

the  Good  Samaritan  to  the  financially  wounded,  at 
eighteen  per  cent,  on  undeniable  security,  suddenly 
began  to  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  Paddle  ford,  who 
had  always  been  ready  to  loan,  utterly  refused  all  ap 
plicants  ;  and  those  who  had  formerly  depended  upon 
him,  came  to  Gardiner.  He  did  not  dare  to  refuse  re 
sponsible  people,  for  it  would  have  shown  weakness  ; 
and  he  had  no  resource  but  borrowing,  unless  he  could 
realize.  From  sheer  necessity,  he  became  as  zealous 
on  the  merits  of  New  Canton  as  Burt  himself,  and 
vastly  more  effective. 

There  grew  up  in  the  minds  of  some  people,  grave 
doubts  as  to  whether  New  Canton  was,  after  all,  the 
exact  center  of  the  globe  ;  and  those  who  had  bought 
began  cautiously  offering  to  sell.  Buyers  became 
more  cautious  and  slower  of  movement ;  and  there  was 
a  lowering  of  tone  when  the  town  was  under  discus 
sion.  The  flow  of  money  and  obligations  into  the 
land  office  was  checked;  and  there  settled  down  a 
gloom,  for  which  no  one  could  give  a  reason.  Lot- 
owners  began  to  ask  troublesome  questions  —  why  the 
railroads  were  not  commenced;  why  the  improvement 
of  Soggy  Run  was  not  begun;  why  the  turnpikes, 
which  were  to  bring  trade  into  New  Canton,  had  no 
existence  save  on  paper  ;  and  men  began  to  scowl  at 
the  elegantly  colored  maps  in  the  land  company's  of 
fice.  Several  hundred  lots  had  been  sold,  and  prices 
had  gone  steadily  up ;  but  the  advance  had  stopped, 
and,  while  nominally  as  high  as  ever,  there  were  no 
actual  transactions.  People  were  frightened.  They 
wanted  to  see  something  of  the  golden  wave  that  was 
to  wash  through  that  section  like  an  inundation  of 
the  Nile,  leaving  its  rich  deposits  on  every  man's 


THE  UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF  THE   CITY.  173 

property.  They  wanted  to  hear  the  shrieks  of  the  lo 
comotives  that  had  been  promised  them  ;  they  wanted 
to  see  steamboats  puffing  and  snorting  on  Soggy  Run  ; 
and  they  wanted  to  see  some  movement  made  toward 
the  long  rows  of  massive  warehouses  and  palatial  resi 
dences  that  the  eloquent  and  florid  Peppernell  had 
described  to  their  willing  ears  so  long. 

"  Something  must  "be  done,"  growled  Peppernell, 
in  his  gruffest  way,  to  Burt,  as  they  sat  in  the  office, 
one  night,  later  than  usual.  "  Something  must  be 
done,  and  that  right  away.  Jobley  is  going  about 
swearing  that  the  scheme  is  a  fraud,  and  that  there 
ain't  a-goin'  to  be  no  railroad  nor  no  nothin'  else,  and 
that  the  thing,  from  first  to  last,  is  a  scheme  to  sell 
out  the  people  for  the  benefit  of  the  land  company  ; 
and  blast  me  if  they  don't  more  than  half  believe  him. 
If  it  wasn't  for  old  Gardiner,  they'd  bust  us  in  a 
week." 

"New  Canton  can't  afford  to  be  'busted,'  as  you 
term  it,"  replied  Burt.  "  No,  indeed !  Never  fear. 
We  are  not  to  be  busted.  Wait,  my  dear  sir ;  wait. 
A  new  light  will  dawn  on  New  Canton,  and  confidence 
in  her  future  will  be  restored.  The  faith  that  I  have 
in  its  destiny  is  grounded  on  — 

"Bother  that  stuff!"  growled  Peppernell.  "It's 
all  well  enough  for  the  street ;  but  in  here —  " 

Burt  laughed  a  soft,  pleasant  laugh,  and  laid  his 
hand  on  the  Colonel's  coat-sleeve,  soothingly. 

"  Colonel,  I  never  forget  New  Canton,  even  in  my 
own  house.  I  talk  it  to  Mrs.  Burt.  Have  patience 
and  faith.  Faith  is  every  thing.  It  will  come  out 
right.  We  shall  realize  all  that  we  hoped  for, 
Colonel." 


174  A  PAPER   CITY. 

While  the  town  was  in  this  state  of  betwixt  and 
betweenity,  undecided  as  to  whether  it  should  turn 
its  back  upon  its  greatness  and  settle  back  into  the 
little  village  of  ante-Burt  times,  a  new  excitement 
rose,  which  swallowed  up  other  topics,  as  Aaron's, 
serpent  swallowed  up  the  rest.  It  appeared  that,  some 
weeks  before,  a  gentleman,  or  one  whose  clothes  would 
entitle  him  to  that  distinction  in  New  Canton,  got  off 
the  cars,  and  took  rooms  at  the  Grand  Central,  regis 
tering  as  John  F.  Price,  Chicago,  111.  He  was  a  rough 
and  gruff  sort  of  man,  was  Price  ;  and  the  people  did 
not  know  exactly  what  to  make  of  him.  In  the  af 
ternoon  of  the  first  day,  he  had  John,  the  hostler  of 
the  Grand  Central,  drive  him  out. 

He  rode  all  over  the  village  and  extended  his  excur 
sion  a  long  way  into  the  country.  He  had  John  stop 
at  various  points,  and  asked  questions :  — 

"  Who  owns  that  block,  John  ?  " 

"  The  land  company,  sir." 

"  Hum-in  !  "  was  Mr.  Price's  soliloquy.  "  Burt 
knows  its  value  as  well  as  I  do.  No  chance  for  a 
speculation  there." 

Then  he  asked  about  the  ownership  of  various 
other  pieces  of  ground,  and  made  great  use  of  a  note 
book,  in  which  he  made  divers  and  sundry  entries, 
being  very  particular  to  pump  John  in  a  sly  way  about 
the  circumstances  of  the  owners  —  as,  for  instance, 
whether  they  were  sufficiently  pressed  for  money  to 
be  compelled  to  part  with  real  estate,  and  as  to  whether 
ready  money  was  a  desirable  thing  in  New  Canton  in 
real  estate  transactions. 

It  was  after  dark  when  he  got  back  to  the  hotel ; 
but,  late  as  it  was,  every  inquiry  he  had  made  and 


THE  UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF   THE   CITY.  175 

every  remark,  whether  in  soliloquy  or  otherwise,  was 
faithfully  repeated  by  John  to  the  crowd  about  the 
hotel;  and  long  before  they  retired  to  their  several 
couches  every  man  knew  all  about  it. 

The  next  morning  Col.  Peppernell,  acting  for  the 
land  company,  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Price.  Not 
a  private  one,  by  any  means ;  for  they  sat  in  the  read 
ing-room  of  the  Grand  Central,  and  were  in  earnest 
conversation  half  a  day.  The  casual  listener  heard 
enough  of  their  conversation  to  learn  that  it  was 
about  real  estate,  that  Price  was  anxious  to  buy,  and 
Peppernell  equally  anxious  to  sell ;  but  that,  as  is  al 
ways  the  case,  the  seller  asked  too  much  and  the 
buyer  did  not  offer  enough.  They  finally  rose  and 
shook  hands,  Mr.  Price  remarking  :  — 

"  No  need  of  any  papers,  is  there  ?  It's  all  under 
stood." 

"  None,  sir ;  none.  My  word  is  as  good  as  my  bond." 
Which  it  was  —  just  about. 

"  The  Busbey  Farm  and  the  block  at  the  head  of 
Elm  Street ;  four  thousand  in  hand,  and  the  balance 
in  one,  two,  and  three  years." 

"  That  is  it ;  and  you  shall  have  the  deed  when  you 
make  the  first  payment." 

The  gentlemen  parted,  Mr.  Price  returning  to  Chi 
cago. 

In  about  a  week  Price  appeared  one  morning,  ap 
proaching  every  man  who  had  outlying  property,  with 
very  large  offers.  The  very  liberality  of  his  offers  de 
feated  his  purpose.  People  grew  suspicious  of  the 
man,  and  nobody  wanted  to  sell.  It  was  a  peculiarity 
of  New  Canton  that,  as  soon  as  a  man  came  to  buy,  no 
one  would  part  with  their  real  estate  at  any  price. 


176  A   PAPER   CITY. 

New  Canton  grew  very  conservative ;  and  its  people 
put  such  prices  on  their  ground  that  Mr.  Price  sneer- 
ingly  observed  that  they  must  each  of  them  believe 
that  he  had  a  gold  mine  under  it.  They  were  afraid 
to  sell,  for  fear  there  would  be  an  advance  that  would 
make  them  repent  their  imprudence.  Every  man  be 
came  suddenly  afraid  he  would  lose  the  fortune  hoped 
for  when  he  made  his  investment. 

Mr.  Price  was  fain  to  content  himself  with  what  he 
had  already  purchased  of  the  land  company ;  and  he 
walked  to  the  office  of  that  corporation  and  demanded 
his  deed,  expressing  himself  ready  to  make  the  first 
payment,  according  to  the  verbal  agreement  with 
Peppernell,  its  president. 

To  his  intense  disgust  and  dire  displeasure,  both 
Mr.  Burt  and  Col.  Peppernell  refused  to  make  any 
deed  and  utterly  ignored  the  transaction. 

"  Do  you  pretend  to  deny,"  roared  the  choleric 
Price,  in  the  presence  of  half  a  dozen  sitting  there, 
"  that  you  sold  me  that  land  ?  " 

"  From  Col.  Peppernell  I  learn,"  said  Mr.  Burt, 
coolly,  "  that  there  was  some  talk  with  you  about 
land,  and  that  a  price  was  named  for  the  Busbey 
Farm  and  the  lots  at  the  head  of  Elm  Street.  But 
there  were  no  papers  drawn  nor  was  the  transaction 
completed.  Subsequent  events  have  made  that  espe 
cial  property  much  more  valuable,  and  we  decline  to 
sell.  You  should  have  closed  on  the  spot,  Mr.  Price. 
Two  weeks  is  a  long  time  to  wait,  as  property  is  here 
now." 

"  Then  you  won't  give  my  deed  and  take  my 
money?  " 

"Not  at  that  price.     Decidedly  not." 


THE    UPS   AND    DOWNS    OF   THE   CITY.  177 

Col.  Peppernell  echoed  "  Not  at  that  price ;  "  and 
the  gentlemen  interchanged  epithets  the  reverse  of 
complimentary.  Mr.  Price  gave.it  as  his  opinion  that 
the  land  company  was  a  swindle  ;  and  the  two  mana 
gers  informed  Mr.  Price  that  he  was  nothing  but  a 
land-shark,  who  was  trying  to  take  advantage  of  hon 
est  men. 

"  Honest  men  !  "  exclaimed  Price.  "  To  sell  land 
and  then  go  back  on  your  word." 

Then  the  usual  proceedings  were  taken.  Mr.  Price 
consulted  Mr.  Perkins,  one  of  the  four  lawyers  of  the 
town,  who  assured  him  that  he  had  a  clear  case  against 
the  company ;  and,  authorized  by  Mr.  Price,  Mr.  Per 
kins  called  upon  Col.  Peppernell,  in  his  capacity  as 
attorney,  and  demanded  a  deed  of  the  property,  the 
alternative  being  an  action  at  law. 

Threatened  with  a  lawsuit,  Col.  Peppernell  became 
active.  Long  experience  in  and  about  courts  made 
the  prospect  of  a  legal  struggle  pleasant  to  him.  As 
the  first  step,  he  consulted  Mr.  James  Gardiner,  the 
company's  attorney.  Now,  any  other  citizen  of  New 
Canton  —  that  is,  any  reputable  citizen  —  would  have 
gone  directly  to  Mr.  Gardiner's  office,  that  being  the 
place  where  attorneys  are  supposed  to  be  during  busi 
ness  hours,  except  when  "  professionally  engaged." 
But  not  so  Col.  Peppernell.  He  knew  that  when  he 
had  gone  thither  he  would  be  rewarded  by  finding  on 
the  door,  written  in  a  good  clerkly  hand,  the  legend 
44  Back  in  a  few  minutes,"  dust  and  finger-marks 
showing  that  it  had  been  there  a  week.  Peppernell 
would  not  go  through  the  empty  form  of  looking  at 
the  office.  He  went  straight  to  Pilkin's,  and  walked 
through  the  bar-room  into  a  private  room  at  the  back, 

12 


178  A   PAPER   CITY. 

where  he  found  Mr.  Gardiner  playing  seven-up  with 
three  other  choice  spirits,  around  a  greasy  table,  with 
a  great  deal  of  not  qver  choice  spirits  inside  them. 

Col.  Peppernell  told  Mr.  Gardiner  he  had  a  piece 
of  important  business  on  his  hands,  which  he  desired 
him  to  look  after,  and  suggested  that  they  go  to  the 
office  to  talk  the  matter  over. 

"  A  party  is  trying  to  swindle  the  land  company," 
said  Peppernell. 

"  Do  they  know  you  and  Burt  ? "  asked  James, 
without  looking  up.  "  Six  and  six,  and  my  deal." 

Col.  Peppernell  did  not  relish  the  insinuation  that 
anybody  attempting  a  swindle  should  know  better  than 
to  engage  such  experts  as  himself  and  Burt ;  but  he 
affected  not  to  notice  it. 

"  Come,  Jim,"  was  the  Colonel's  answer.  "  I  can't 
wait  all  day  !  " 

"  In  five  minutes,  Colonel.  Don't  you  see,  we  are 
six  and  six,  and  it's  my  deal  ?  It  is  a  principle  with 
me  never  to  neglect  pleasure  for  business.  You  can 
take  up  business  any  time,  but  a  pleasure  lost  is  lost 
forever.  You  may  say  that  you  may  drink  another 
time,  but,  alas  !  you  can  never  drink  the  drink  you 
didn't  drink.  John,  another  whisky,  hot.  Be  a  lit 
tle  more  economical  of  water  than  you  were  the  last 
time.  It's  wicked  to  waste  water,  this  dry  season. 
If  you  would  use  more  whisky  and  less  water,  how 
much  labor  you  would  save  at  the  pump  ?  In  a  few 
minutes,  Colonel.  John,  bring  Col.  Peppernell  a  very 
stiff  whisky,  plain.  As  a  mere  matter  of  form,  you 
may  ask  him  what  he  will  have." 

The  game  ended,  the  whisky  swallowed,  the  pair 
left  the  saloon,  and  went  to  Gardiner's  office,  where 


THE   UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF   THE   CITY.  179 

instructions  were  given  and  taken ;  and  Gardiner, 
promising  to  look  the  matter  up  with  all  due  diligence, 
went  immediately  back  to  Pilkin's  where  cards,  and 
whisky  not  drowned  in  water,  employed  him  till  his 
usual  hour  in  the  night. 

Law  was  not  the  slow  thing  in  New  Canton  that  it 
is  in  larger  places.  There  were  no  crowded  dockets 
to  be  cleared  off;  and,  as  both  parties  seemed  anxious 
to  have  the  matter  decided,  there  were  no  vexatious 
delays.  The  county  court  was  in  session  ;  and  Mr. 
Price  was  only  detained  a  few  days  till  the  case  came 
on.  Mr.  Perkins  was  always  ready  and  never  more 
eager  for  a  fee  ;  and,  for  the  other  side,  Gardiner, 
feeling  the  responsibility  that  rested  upon  him,  as  his 
good  old  father  was  interested  in  the  suit,  let  liquor 
alone  several  hours,  and  went  into  the  case  finally  in 
decent  condition. 

A  lawsuit  is  to  the  Western  American  what  a  bull 
fight  is  to  a  Spaniard,  or  an  opera  to  a  Frenchman. 
The  struggle  of  matadore  and  bull  is  represented  by 
the  pettifogger  and  the  witness  ;  and  it  affords  as  ex 
citing  amusement.  Any  lawsuit  in  New  Canton,  in 
which  a  sum  so  prodigious  as  four  thousand  dollars 
was  involved,  would  draw  a  throng  ;  but  this  case  ex 
cited  especial  interest.  The  value  of  land  interested 
every  landholder  within  range  of  the  operations  of 
the  land  company,  beside  a  great  many  who  did  not 
own  lands  and  never  expected  to. 

For  days  it  had  been  the  topic  of  conversation  in 
blacksmith  shop,  grocery,  and  at  cross-roads.  It  dis 
placed  the  deaths,  marriages,  and  "  vandoos,"  and 
even  the  state  of  the  country  —  topic  always  dear  to 
the  man  who  has  no  stake  whatever  in  it  —  was  com 
pelled  to  give  way  to  the  "  Great  Land  Case/' 


180  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Public  opinion  was  divided.  "  If  I  was  in  Burt's 
place,"  said  Dubbly,  the  blacksmith,  as  he  turned  a 
horseshoe,  "  I  should  give  the  Chicago  man  the  deed 
and  take  his  money.  A  bargain  is  a  bargain,  and 
common  fairness —  " 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply  of  Farmer  Whipple.  "  But 
there's  another  side  to  it.  Peppernell  says  there  was 
no  sale  ;  and,  besides,  if  there  was,  suppose  Price  con 
cealed  facts  that  had  a  bearin'  onto  the  value  of  the 
property.  Why,  Price  was  down  here  after  my  farm  ; 
and,  if  I  hadn't  been  warned,  he'd  'a'  got  it  for  a 
hundred  and  fifty  an  acre." 

And  Whipple,  whose  land  was  dear  at  ten  dollars, 
shuddered  at  the  narrow  escape  he  had  made. 

"  There  ought  to  be  no  law  for  these  speculators," 
was  his  closing  remark ;  "  and  I'm  glad  Burt  is  fightin' 
'em." 

Whipple,  whose  twenty  acres  afforded  his  family 
potatoes,  in  good  seasons,  had  been  afraid  of  these 
land-sharks  ever  since  the  offer  and  rejection  of  four 
thousand  dollars  for  the  Busbey  Farm,  and  lay  awake 
nights,  racking  his  brain  as  to  the  best  and  safest  way 
of  investing  money.  It  troubled  him.  Stocks? 
Stocks  went  up  and  down.  Business  ?  He  didn't  un 
derstand  business.  Worried  as  to  what  he  should  do 
with  his  wealth,  he  hunted  through  his  pantaloons  to 
find  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  and  rode  into  town  and 
went  incontinently  to  Pilkin's  to  spend  it,  talking  over 
the  land-case. 

The  town  was  even  more  excited  than  the  country  ? 
being  more  directly  interested.  Cobblers  left  their 
benches,  and  blacksmiths  their  forges ;  and  they  did 
it  with  perfect  safety,  for  they  knew  no  one  would 


THE   UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF   THE    CITY.  181 

come  near  them  that  day.  Pilldn  and  his  kind  were 
the  only  ones  who  could  reasonably  be  expected  to  do 
any  business  when  so  exciting  a  case  was  pending. 

Before  daybreak,  people  were  pouring  into  town,  in 
all  sorts  of  vehicles  and  upon  all  sorts  of  beasts. 
There  were  teams  —  mere  reminiscenses  of  horses  — 
harnessed  side  by  side,  to  give  each  something  to  lean 
on,  to  keep  them  on  their  feet.  There  were  wagons 
so  patched  and  mended  that  hardly  a  stick  of  the 
original  was  visible  ;  and,  the  poorer  the  horse  and 
the  frailer  the  wagon,  the  more  men  and  women  were 
riding  behind  them. 

The  court-house  in  New  Canton  was  a  barn-like 
structure,  devised,  to  show,  by  actual  experiment, 
how  much  ugliness  and  discomfort  could  be  put  into 
one  building.  The  excited  people  had  tried  in  vain 
to  get  some  idea  from  the  presiding  judge  on  the 
merits  of  the  case.  When  approached  on  the  subject, 
he  replied  that  it  was  a  very  important  case,  and  it 
was  not  proper  to  express  any  opinion  till  the  evidence 
had  been  heard  and  the  case  was  before  the  court  in  a 
purely  legal  way. 

"  But,  Judge,  can  a  man  take  property  before  — 

"  My  friend,"  the  Judge  replied,  with  great  gravity, 
"  you  will  know  all  about  the  law  in  this  case,  when 
you  have  heard  my  charge  to  the  jury." 

The  court-room  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  In 
deed,  not  half  the  throng  could  get  into  it.  Those 
who,  not  possessing  land  enough  to  be  buried  in,  were, 
as  they  always  are,  first  on  the  ground,  arid  secured 
the  best  seats.  They  felt  they  had  a  right  to  them. 
They  had  left  potatoes  undug,  corn  in  the  field,  and 
stock  uncared  for,  and  their  wives  had  left  household 


182  A  PAPER   CITY. 

duties,  to  be  present  at  the  trial  of  the  land-case  ;  and 
they  were  not  going  to  be  defrauded  out  of  their 
pleasure.  Mr.  Perkins  was  a  master  hand  with  timid 
witnesses  ;  and  Gardiner  had  given  promise,  in  his 
few  appearances,  of  having  mettle  in  him. 

At  the  outset,  Mr.  Perkins,  in  the  most  formal  man 
ner  and  in  the  most  ostentatious  way,  counted  out  four 
thousand  dollars,  and,  in  open  court,  tendered  them 
to  the  defendants,  for  the  land,  specifying,  with  great 
exactness,  what  land  it  was. 

"  Gracious  Heavens  !  "  exclaimed  a  hundred  far 
mers,  in  the  suppressed  tones  appropriate  to  such 
places.  "Four  thousand  dollars  for  that  Busbey 
Farm  !  It  could  have  been  bought  for  five  hundred  a 
year  ago." 

"  There  ain't  no  doubt  about  it,"  whispered  another 
to  his  neighbor.  "  There's  the  money,  and  it's  good 
money." 

"  This  same  spekilator  wanted  to  get  my  place  —  a 
hundred  acres  —  for  two  thousand !  I  was  too  smart 
for  him.  He  didn't  take  me  in." 

Public  opinion  was  against  Mr.  Price  ;  for  every 
man  who  owned  an  acre  of  ground  would  have  be 
lieved  that  he  was  taking  an  undue  advantage  if  he 
had  offered  ten  times  the  sum  for  it. 

Witnesses  were  examined,  —  Mr.  Gardiner  being 
prompted  by  Mr.  Burt,  —  in  the  course  of  which  it 
was  made  public  that  Mr.  Price's  anxiety  to  possess 
the  land  arose  from  information  that  the  operations 
of  the  Midland  Company  were  a  sure  thing,  and  that 
negotiations  by  the  company  made  other  railroads  a 
certainty,  and  the  Soggy  Run  improvements  were  to  be 
forthwith  commenced,  with  more  to  the  same  purpose. 


THE   UPS   AND   DOWNS    OF   THE   CITY.  183 

There  wasn't  the  slightest  occasion  for  argument, 
nor  for  any  charge  to  the  jury ;  but  Mr.  Perkins  would 
no  more  have  permitted  the  case  to  go  the  jury  with 
out  addressing  them  than  he  would  have  declined  his 
fee.     And  a  good  two-hours'  plea  he  made,  which  was 
quoted  in  the  "  Forum  "  as  a  model  of  forensic  elo 
quence.     He  hurled  at  the  heads  of  the  unfortunate 
jurymen  all  the  land-law  that  had  ever  been  made  ; 
he  went  into  the  question  of  agreements,  the  effect  of 
verbal  agreements  —  where  they  held  and  where  they 
did  not ;  and  he  was  severe  upon  the  bad  faith  of  the 
land  company,  as  a  man  might  reasonably  be  expected 
to  be  who  had  been  mortified  at  the  promotion  of  a 
young   practitioner   to  the  place  he  was  entitled  to. 
After  instructing  the  jury  that  the  eyes  of  the  civi 
lized  world  were  upon  them,  that  the  question  at  is 
sue    involved   the  entire   framework   of  society,  and 
that,  if  they  brought  a  verdict  against  his  client,  there 
was  an  end  of  every  thing  like  comity,  and  chaos  might 
be  properly  said  to  have  come  again,  he  closed. 

Gardiner  contented  himself  with  showing  that  it 
was  necessary  for  the  plaintiff  to  establish  a  sale  ; 
which  was  impossible,  as  he  did  not  pretend  that  any 
of  the  formalities  necessary  to  the  transfer  of  land  had 
been  observed;  and  the  case  went  to  the  Judge.  His 
honor  charged  the  jury —  but  why  detail  his  charge  ? 
During  the  progress  of  the  trial,  he  had  been  calculat 
ing  his  chances  for  re-election,  and  knew  as  much 
about  the  matter  as  he  did  of  the  Schleswig-Holstcin 
question.  But  he  said,  with  an  appearance  of  pro 
found  wisdom,  that,  if  the  evidence  had  been  so  and 
so,  they  must  find  so  and  so  ;  but,  if  it  had  been  other 
wise,  they  would  have  to  find  otherwise,  which  sapient 


184  A   PAPER    CITY. 

conclusion  impressed  people  with  a  sense  of  judicial 
fairness  they  had  not  expected. 

As  the  jury  owned  real  estate  in  New  Canton, 
and  were,  therefore,  unprejudiced,  they  brought  in  a 
verdict  for  the  defendants  without  leaving  their  seats  ; 
which  every  man  of  them  would  have  done,  no  mat 
ter  what  the  evidence.  Mr.  Price  was  disgusted,  and 
made'  threats  of  appealing  the  case  where  he  could 
have  justice  done  ;  but,  before  leaving  the  court-room, 
he  approached  Mr.  Burt  and  offered  him  two  thousand 
dollars  more  than  he  had  originally  bought  the  ground 
for,  saying  that  he  had  rather  submit  to  the  swindle 
than  bother  any  more  with  law.  This  Mr.  Burt  de 
clined,  and  defied  him  to  do  his  worst. 

"  I  know  what  that  land  is  worth,  Mr.  Price,"  was 
Mr.  Burt's  answer,  with  a  knowing  inclination  of  the 
head ;  "  and  I  don't  propose  to  give  it  away." 

"  He  won't  take  six  thousand  dollars,  cash,  for  the 
Busbey  place !  "  echoed  the  crowd.  "  And  in  good 
money  !  " 

Mr.  Price  now  threw  off  all  reserve.  He  wanted 
real  estate  ;  he  had  money  to  pay  for  it,  and  he  in 
tended  to  have  it.  He  should  get  that  which  he  had 
bought  of  the  land  company,  if  there  was  any  justice 
in  the  land.  Holders  of  ground  became  more  and 
more  averse  to  selling,  and  Price  increased  his  offers 
exactly  in  proportion  to  their  unwillingness.  The 
people  were  puzzled.  Should  they  sell  and  realize  ? 
They  could  make  an  exceedingly  good  thing  by  doing 
it.  But,  then,  suppose  the  roads  should  be  built  — 
and  this  man  evidently  was  acting  upon  information. 
The  tender  of  four  thousand  dollars  was  an  indication 
not  to  be  disregarded. 


THE    UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF  THE   CITY.  185 

Mr.  Burt,  when  appealed  to  for  advice,  was  very 
reticent. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "you  all  know  my  opinion 
of  New  Canton.  My  hopes  and  expectations  may  be 
realized,  and  may  not.  New  Canton  may  become  the 
great  city.  I  hope  it  will,  or  I  may  be  mistaken  in 
my  calculations.  But,  while  I  will  not  advise  you,  I 
can  say  what  I  shall  do,  in  a  very  few  words.  We 
sell,  because  we  have  to  sell ;  but,  were  I  otherwise 
circumstanced,  I  would  rather  buy  than  sell.  I  don't 
know  this  man.  He  may  be  a  wild  speculator,  wrho 
believes  it  safe  to  invest  anywhere  in  lands,  at  present 
prices  ;  or  he  may  be  a  shrewd  man,  who  has  studied 
natural  advantages  and  sees  something  in  the  future 
of  New  Canton.  I  don't  know.  Every  one  of  you 
must  act  on  his  own  judgment  and  do  what  he  thinks 
best." 

Mr.  Burt  refused  to  talk  further  ;  but  went  calmly 
on  with  his  business,  with  a  half-smile  of  pity  for  the 
poor  people  who  could  not  see  through  so  transparent 
an  operation  as  this  Chicago  shark  was  trying  to 
make. 

That  afternoon,  an  old  farmer,  whose  land  Mr. 
Price  was  trying  to  buy,  received  this  note  :  — 

"FniEND  ELKINS  :  — 

"Price  is  on  the  inside  of  the  great  Midland  Road. 
He  is  here  trying  to  buy  up  every  thing  in  the  way 
of  real  estate  that  he  can  get  contracts  for.  Burn 
this  as  soon  as  you  have  read  it,  and  say  nothing  about 
it  to  any  one. 

"  BURT." 

"  The  thief !  Trying  to  swindle  us  !  "  said  Elkins 
to  himself ;  and  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  rode  furi- 


186  A  PAPER   CITY. 

ously  over  to  his  brother-in-law,  to  save  him  from  this 
wolf.  The  brother-in-law,  in  turn,  told  a  friend  of 
his  ;  and  by  nightfall  it  was  half  over  the  county. 

Th§  result  was,  that  Mr.  Price  found  it  difficult  to 
get  New  Canton  real  estate  at  any  price.  He  had  se 
cured  several  refusals  before  his  position  and  purposes 
became  known  ;  but  he  could  no  more  have  got  an 
other  inch  than  he  could  have  bought  the  Capitol  at 
Washington.  Owners  laughed  in  his  face  ;  and  he 
was  chopfallen  when  he  found  that  his  purpose  was 
known.  He  offered  some  very  large  prices  for  a  very 
large  amount  of  real  estate,  and  wasn't  at  all  particu 
lar  where  it  was  located. 

The  next  day  saw  increased  activity  in  the  real  es 
tate  market.  The  few  who  had  rashly  sold  to  the 
scheming  Chicagoans  were  pitied,  and  those  who  had 
held  on  were  congratulated.  People  were  justly  in 
dignant  that  the  directors  of  the  roads  should  take  ad 
vantage  of  their  knowledge  of  affairs  to  swindle  poor 
farmers  out  of  their  property,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
say  so. 

Burt  told  them  that  it  was  only  natural ;  and  Pep- 
pern  ell  swore  great  oaths  that  it  was  precisely  what 
he  would  have  done,  if  he  had  the  point  that  Price 
and  Hawkins  had. 

44  You  bring  it  upon  yourselves,"  was  the  Colonel's 
indignant  commentary.  "  You  go  about  growlin'  like 
bears  with  sore  heads  because  we  can't  do  every  thing 
in  a  minit ;  and  you  invite  these  fellows  to  come  and 
gobble  you.  They  are  at  the  centers  of  information 
—  they  know  all  about  it  ;  and,  when  they  see  people 
impatient,  and  they  know  there  ain't  no  reason  for  it, 
they  come  in  and  take  advantage  of  the  feehV.  If 


THE   UPS   AND   DOWNS   OF  THE   CITY.  187 

any  of  you  have  any  property  to  sell,  come  to  me 
with  it.  You  might  as  well  give  a  townsman  a  chance 
as  a  stranger." 

The  " Sentinel"  next  week  had  a  long  and  humor 
ous  article  describing  the  attempts  of  a  Chicago  real- 
estate  sharp  to  get  the  advantage  of  the  people  of 
New  Canton,  and  how  the  attempt  was  foiled  by  the 
shrewdness  and  public  spirit  of  Mr.  Burt.  It  described 
the  lawsuit,  laying  stress  upon  the  $4,000  episode,  and 
went  on  to  mention  what  prices  had  been  offered  and 
refused.  It  congratulated  the  citizens  upon  the  im 
proved  prospects  of  the  town,  which  resulted  in  a 
great  influx  of  people,  who  actually  bought  of  the 
land  company,  for  cash. 

All  this  was  encouraging  to  Gardiner.  The  land 
company  was  his  only  hope.  Never  since  its  begin 
ning  had  the  speculation  showed  such  vitality  as  since 
the  advent  of  Mr.  Price.  He  consulted  his  son  as  to 
the  propriety  of  selling  part  of  his  interest,  to  replace 
the  money  he  had  lost  in  New  York. 

"  I  doubt  if  you  can  sell,"  was  the  discouraging  re 
ply  of  the  yo-ung  man. 

44  Why  not?  Didn't  Price  offer  $4,000  for  the  Bus- 
bey  Farm?" 

"  Price  testified  too  readily  ;  and  Burt  —  Burt  is  a 
smart  man — prompted  every  question  I  put  to  him, 
and  they  all  went  to  establish  the  soundness  of  the 
land  company  and  the  desirability  of  New  Canton 
real  estate.  Price  was  a  very  willing  witness.  Don't 
take  too  much  stock  in  these  men  or  what  they  do." 

"  James,  you  seem  to  intimate  something  like  col 
lusion  between  Burt  and  this  man.  If  it  was  true,  it 
would  make  them  out  dishonest  men,"  said  old  Gardi- 


188 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


ner,  in  his  simple  integrity,  as  if  lie  had  named  the 
most  utter  impossibility  in  the  world. 

James  looked  at  his  father  with  a  blending  of  rev 
erence  and  compassion. 

"  Then  there's  nothing  more  to  be  said,"  he  re 
marked  briskly ;  and  he  went  out  feeling  detailed  to 
keep  close  watch  the  proceedings  of  the  land  company, 
and  Mr.  Charles  Burt  in  particular. 


EL1PHALET   BUTTERFIELD's   DAUGHTER.       189 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

ELIPHALET   BUTTEBFIELD'S   DAUGHTER. 

EMELINE.  At  the  soft,  out-of-fashion  name,  the 
image  of  an  ardent,  gracious  woman  rises  as  a 
face  grows  out  of  the  breath  on  a  mirror.  Berries, 
fair  flowers,  the  breath  of  hayfields,  warm  evening 
flushes  —  have  their  counterparts  for  men  in  the 
beauty  of  women.  But  the  charm  of  Emeline  Butter- 
field  was  off  the  common  order.  It  had  the  spice  of 
talent  —  not  the  common  feminine  instinct,  like  that  of 
moles,  which  certainly  see  a  great  deal  further  in  the 
dark  than  we  do,  but  the  quick,  working  intelligence, 
which  makes  a  plain  face  better  than  the  wealthiest 
beauty,  and  which,  added  to  beauty,  makes  it  next  to 
divine.  In  favor,  Emeline  was  more  than  a  warm, 
dark  rose,  all  deep  blush  and  perfume  ;  or  a  wild  red 
crabtree  blossom,  delicate  in  its  subtle,  tea-like  odor ; 
or  a  raspberry,  all  redness  and  aroma,  —  than  any 
frailer  flower  or  berry,  brighter  in  color  and  uncertain 
in  sweetness.  She  hud  been  a  handsome  creature 
when,  in  the  early  days  of  New  Canton,  she  rode  into 
town  on  her  father's  load  of  wood,  her  bare  feet  hang 
ing  below  her  gown,  showing  a  leg  and  foot  as  straight 
and  fine  and  true  as  ever  was  turned.  At  the  time 
this  story  begins,  she  had  long  since  learned  to  keep 


190  A  PAPER   CITY. 

her  pretty  foot  hidden  in  as  neat  a  shoe  and  white  a 
stocking  as  could  be  seen  in  New  Canton,  and  was  not 
unaware  of  a  few  of  her  good  points.  Her  figure,  low 
and  luxurious  at  sight,  was  lithe  as  a  whip,  and  car 
ried  with  such  ease  and  spring  that  every  man  in  town 
turned  his  head  to  look  after  her,  and  was  itself  capi 
tal  enough  for  any  woman  to  set  up  for  charming. 
Her  face,  in  all  its  tints,  tended  to  depth,  so  that  the 
purple-dark  eyes,  the  glow  of  her  cheek,  —  like  a  cleft 
pomegranate, — and  the  redder  lip,  even  to  the  ten 
dril  masses  of  dusky  hair,  were  shades  of  the  same 
richness.  She  was  a  woman  made  for  the  bliss  of  some 
warm,  clinging  heart,  with  a  soul  as  joyous  as  her  face 
was  sweet  and  her  mind  acute.  Yet  she  was  the 
daughter  of  the  poorest  man  in  the  county,  and  the 
most  miserable. 

Emeline  Butterfield  was  the  daughter  of  a  small 
farmer,  as  poor  as  a  man  could  be  owning  eighty  acres 
of  Illinois  land.  His  horses  were  the  roughest  the 
county  ever  mourned  over,  and  his  wagon  the  poorest 
that  ever  came  to  New  Canton  loaded  with  wood. 
Wood  was  the  onl}r  thing  he  came  to  market  with  ; 
for  it  was  a  crop  that  grew  without  human  interfer 
ence.  He  was  not  to  blame  for  the  wood  that  grew 
on  his  place.  If  he  had  been  responsible,  his  luck 
would  have  killed  it.  If  he  had  to  plant  it,  the  seed 
would  have  been  too  late  to  sprout ;  and  if,  by  some 
mistake,  he  had  planted  it  early,  there  would  have 
been  late  frosts  that  year.  Fortunately  for  such 
farmers,  wood  grows  and  takes  care  of  itself :  all  they 
have  to  do  is  to  Avait  till  they  get  hungry  or  cold,  and 
go  out  and  cut  down  fuel,  —  something  which  every 
body  wants,  —  and  sell  it.  Wood-lots  are  made  for 


ELIPHALET   BUTTER  FIELD'S   DAUGHTER.       19i 

shiftless  men  among  the  poor,  as  sinecures  are  among 
the  better  classes,  as  they  are  called.  But  for  wood- 
lots,  Eliphalet  Butterfield  would  have  lost  heart  and 
hope. 

Emeltne  made  her  first  appearance  in  New  Canton 
riding  on  a  load  of  the  meanest  wood  her  father  ever 
brought  to  town.  It  was  the  meanest,  not  because  he 
was  dishonest,  but  because  it  was  the  nearest,  and  he 
could  get  at  it  with  least  trouble.  It  was  all  swamp 
elm  and  fallen  wood  and  limbs  ;  but  what  of  that  ? 
There  was  no  meal  in  the  house,  and  no  molasses  ; 
and  the  family  had  to  have  both.  Emeline,  with  no 
tions  of  her  own,  rode  behind  the  rough,  burr-stuck 
horses,  whose  harness  was  tied  up  with  ropes,  on  a 
wagon  repaired  so  many  times  the  maker  never,  could 
have  recognized  his  own  work.  The  world  was  before 
her,  the  town  more  to  her  than  Paris  to  the  provincial 
French  ;  and  she  meant  to  make  her  point  there. 

Out  on  the  farm,  in  the  poor  cabin  where  she  had 
been  born,  the  girl  had  dreamed  of  better  things. 
Born  with  that  sharpness  which  belongs  to  all  the 
daughters  of  poverty  who  have  wits  at  all,  she  had 
read  enough  to  know  that  there  was  something  in  the 
world  better  than  the  life  she  led.  She  rode  through 
New  Canton,  saw  the  painted  houses  and  the  women 
with  shoes  and  stockings  on ;  and  she  vowed,  that, 
some  day,  she  would  wear  a  dress  that  came  down  to 
her  feet,  and  shoes  and  stockings.  So  she  walked 
into  New  Canton  one  day,  in  a  Shaker  bonnet,  with  a 
gingham  cape  over  her  shoulders,  and  opened  her  way. 

She  was  too  bashful  and  too  desperate,  at  her  first 
attempt,  to  go  to  people's  houses  and  ask  for  a  place  ; 
for  she  fancied  her  manners  were  against  her,  and  she 


1  92  A  PAPER  CITY. 

did  not  want  to  be  noticed  till  she  could  do  herself 
justice.  She  walked  into  the  hotel,  offered  her  strong, 
willing,  and  quick  arms  there  for  service,  and  was  en 
gaged  at  higher  wages  than  she  dreamed  of  getting  — 
three  dollars  and  a  half  a  week.  She  did  not  mean 
to  stay  there  long;  and,  indeed,  her  position  there 
soon  became  intolerable,  for  the  notice  her  looks  at 
tracted.  A  good  woman  advised  her  to  find  a  less 
conspicuous  place,  wisely  judging  that  her  beauty 
might  some  day  bring  her  good  fortune,  with  which 
a  long  engagement  as  chambermaid  at  a  village  tavern 
would  interfere.  Her  next  step  was  to  the  village 
dressmaker's  shop,  where,  in  three  months,  she  learned 
all  that  was  to  be  taught  her ;  for  she  was,  like  every 
really  clever  woman  ever  born  into  the  world,  fond  of 
and  ready  with  the  needle.  At  the  tavern  and  the 
shop,  she  learned  the  ways  of  village  folk,  and  earned 
a  few  becoming  clothes  ;  then,  hearing  that  Mrs.  Burt 
wanted  somebody  to  take  a  sort  of  housekeeper's 
place,  she  applied  for  the  position,  and  got  it,  making 
what  seemed  to  Mrs.  Burt  the  very  reasonable  stipu 
lation  that  she  should  sit  at  the  table  and  be  one  of 
the  family,  in  consideration  of  doing  all  the  work  of 
the  house  and  taking  all  the  care  off  her  invalid's 
shoulders. 

This  was  Emeline's  first  real  step  upward.  She  felt 
instinctively,  that,  to  be  a  hotel  girl  or  a  milliner's 
apprentice,  would  keep  her  among  low-rate  people, 
while,  as  Mrs.  Burt's  companion  and  independent 
housekeeper,  she  would  hold  a  place  among  the  best, 
even  if  every  stroke  of  the  work  was  done  with  her 
own  hands.  At  least,  she  would  be  among  pleasanter 
people;  and  refinement,  however  partial,  drew  her 
toward  it  like  the  sun. 


ELIPHALET   BTJTTERFIELD's   DAUGHTER.        193 

Mrs.  Burt  thought  herself  favored  among  women 
the  month  Emeline  Butterfield  came  to  her  house. 
She  saw  at  a  glance  where  the  house  needed  cleaning, 
the  walls  whitening,  and  the  beds  and  clothes  wanted 
airing  and  looking  over.  She  put  the  house  through 
a  course  of  purification  beyond  any  thing  ever  dreamed 
of  in  Mrs.  Burt's  philosophy  ;  and  she  came  of  a  race 
of  good  housekeepers.  But  Emeline  unconsciously 
illustrated  the  difference  between  conventional  house 
wifery  and  housekeeping  for  the  love  of  it.  She  rinsed 
windows  and  frames  in  as  fair  water  as  if  they  were 
china  for  the  table.  No  trace  of  smear  escaped  her, 
no  shade  lay  on  the  lily  whiteness  of  the  walls  and 
sheets  and  linen  she  superintended.  She  mended  and 
refreshed  con  amore,  because  she  liked  to  see  things 
look  nice  around  her ;  and  she  felt  as  if  her  mistress's 
house  was  her  own,  only  there  was  no  such  word  in 
New  Canton  as  mistress. 

It  seemed  as  if  all  the  faculty  Eliphalet  Butterfield 
lacked  had  been  restored  to  his  child.  She  was  a  born 
manager.  She  cut  down  the  expenses  of  the  Burt 
household  a  third  in  the  first  four  weeks,  and,  getting 
hold  of  a  cook-book,  surprised  the  family  with  an  alter*- 
ation  in  the  bill  of  fare,  which  for  two  generations  had 
been  unaltered  in  the  Burt  family.  They  had,  for  break 
fast,  fried  steak,  with  potatoes  warmed  over,  and  coffee  ; 
the  dinner  was  boiled  meat,  or  steak  again,  with  the 
variety,  in  cold  weather,  of  spare-rib,  turkey,  and  buck, 
wheat  cakes ;  and  the  tablecloth  was  spread  three  times 
a  day  the  year  round  for  precisely  the  same  viands. 
But  Emeline's  soul  aspired  to  muffins  and  pop-overs 
and  fritters  and  waffles  for  breakfast.  Other  house 
keepers  demanded  the  best  of  every  thing  given  them, 

13 


194  A  PAPER   CITY. 

and  then  condescended  to  exert  their  skill  in  triumphs 
of  the  culinary  art.  But  it  was  Emeline  who  could 
take  second-rate  flour,  and  yeast  not  first-rate,  and 
watch  and  work  and  tend  it  into  bread  of  incredible 
sweetness  and  lightness.  The  bakers  do  it  every  day. 
Why  shouldn't  she  ?  And  the  flavor  of  her  company 
cake  and  the  delights  of  her  pies  —  let  me  forbear  to 
make  my  readers  envious  with  them,  seeing  that  plain 
cooking  is  a  lost  and  dishonored  art,  and  our  women 
are  all  learning  to  make  remoulades  and  salmis  and 
game  soups,  and  making  them,  for  the  most  part,  very 
vilely. 

Still,  though  the  girl  was  giving  satisfaction  and 
keeping  house  as  if  her  whole  soul  was  in  it,  she  had 
ano$*er  aim,  which  was  the  secret  of  her  content. 
Her  mistress  knew,  when  the  work  was  done  after 
noons,  that  her  clever  hired  girl  got  a  book  from  Mr. 
Burt's  library,  and  sat  down  to  read  it  with  as  much 
relish  as  she  herself  ever  felt  over  a  pet  dress,  or  hav 
ing  a  neighbor  come  to  tea.  She  did  not  know  that 
she  had  any  thing  against  this  queer  streak  of  taste. 
Emeline  did  her  work  well,  and  gave  good  satisfaction 
to  her  and  Mr.  Burt.  Mr.  Burt  was  very  particular 
about  his  shirts  ;  but  he  had  never  been  so  well  suited 
when  she'd  done  them  herself.  It  kept  Emeline  at 
home  to  her  hand,  if  she  wanted  any  thing  ;  and  it 
wasn't  as  if  she  wanted  to  go  gadding  as  soon  as  her 
work  was  done.  Dear !  how  much  trouble  she  had 
had  with  girls  who  went  down  town  every  afternoon, 
when  dinner  was  over,  and  left  her  to  wait  on  the 
door,  and,  as  like  as  not,  make  the  fire  for  tea  herself, 
before  one  of  them  showed  again.  She  wondered  that 
Emeline  should  have  such  an  odd  streak,  being  very 


ELIPHALET   BUTTERFIELD's   DAUGHTER.       195 

gay  and  quick  and  noways  wanting  in  other  respects ; 
but  then  everybody  had  not  the  balance,  the  respect 
able  common  sense  and  freedom  from  all  eccentricity 
or  uncommonness  in  their  make-up  that  belonged  to 
the  Boody  family.  With  these  thoughts  floating 
hazily  in  her  mind,  Mrs.  Burt  would  sort  her  pieces 
for  silk  patchwork  in  silence,  feeling  very  benevolent 
that  she  did  nof  disturb  Emeline  by  calling  her  to 
keep  her  company. 

Mrs.  Burt  was  not  aware  what  intentions  Emeline 
carried  around  with  her  kneading  of  bread  and  sweep 
ing  of  carpets.  What  does  any  woman  know  or  care 
to  know  of  the  hopes  nursed  between  her  kitchen 
floor  and  attic  ?  Mrs.  Burt's  help  meant  to  be  as 
well-mannered  and  well-taught  as  any  woman  in  Can 
ton  or  outside  of  it,  her  ambition  in  this  respect  grow 
ing  more  extended  as  she  came  to  compare  village  so 
ciety  with  that  she  found  in  books.  When  she  read, 
with  a  memory  that  held  like  a  letter-clip,  all  the 
books  she  found  about  the  house, — annuals,  stray 
magazines,  Mr.  Burt's  old  school-books  on  composi 
tion  and  rhetoric  and  philosophy,  —  it  was  with  a  des 
perate  meaning  some  day  to  be  good  enough  and 
bright  enough  to  be  not  unworthy  the  company  in 
her  favorite  circles,  where  she  had  calling  acquaint, 
ance  with  Lucy  Snow,  and  Fleda,  in  "  Queechy,'' 
and  Marian  Harland's  people  of  gentle  manners  and 
hard  lots.  She  shut  herself  up  in  the  attic  to  hunt 
up  places  that  she  read  about,  in  the  old  geography, 
and  wrote  out  passages  that  she  liked  on  bits  of  the 
white  wrapping-paper  that  came  round  bottles  from 
the  druggists.  Mrs.  Burt  unconsciously  took  good 
care  that  her  stock  of  this  should  not  be  wanting. 


196  A  PAPER   CITY. 

The  Chicago  and  county  newspapers  were  searched 
and  read,  treasuring  every  hint  she  found  there  —  a 
-rule  of  etiquette  from  a  society  letter  or  a  gleam  of 
taste  from  the  criticism  in  a  chance  editorial  —  thin 
teaching ;  but  there  are  minds  which  yon  cannot  tell 
one  thing  without  making  them  wiser  by  half  a  dozen. 
If  Emeline  had  a  predilection,  secretly  confessed,  it  was 
for  the  elegant  village  society  pictured  by  New  Eng 
land  lady  writers  as  peculiar  to  their  part  of  the  coun 
try,  where  the  old  ladies  wear  beautiful  zephyr  shawls 
and  silver  curls,  and  the  pretty  girls  are  always  piqu 
ant,  and  everybody  is  interesting  and  devoted  and 
high-minded,  with  principles  and  toilets  and  manners 
all  off  the  same  piece  of  perfection,  except  that  their 
conversation  runs  to  transcendental  slang.  Emeline 
fancied,  that,  if  she  could  mingle  with  these  people, 
she  might  catch  their  manners,  and  they  would  under, 
stand  her.  Poor  little  girl !  she  did  not  know  how 
her  gaucherie  would  have  cooled  their  sympathies,  so 
that  she  might  as  well  have  tried  to  live  outside  a 
world  of  glass  as  with  them.  They  would  not  have 
flouted,  they  would  have  ignored  her.  To  such  peo 
ple,  it  would  have  seemed  rather  bad  taste  in  her,  or 
in  Nature,  or  both,  for  Eliphalet  Butterfield's  daugh 
ter  to  have  such  unnecessary  beauty.  If  she  had  been 
merely  interesting,  they  might  have  tolerated  it ;  but 
for  a  Mrs.  Burt's  hired  girl,  in  a  vulgar,  money-mak 
ing  town,  to  have  beauty  and  brightness 'was  absurd. 
New  Canton  was  not  far  behind  cultivated  society  in 
its  inaccessibility.  It  might  not  be  so  much  when 
you  got  into  it ;  but  it  could  show  the  world  that  it 
was  as  hard  to  get  into  as  the  best. 

Emeline  did  not  know  that  she  was  unknown  or 


ELIPHALET   BUTTEKFIELD's   DAUGHTER.       197 

ignored.  Her  days  flew  by  on  happy  wings,  keeping 
her  house  spotless  and  in  order,  hoarding  her  hours 
for  study  and  spending  evenings  at  home,  where  she 
was  now  able  to  go  with  something  to  make  the  old 
house  glad.  It  might  be  only  a  new  cover  for  the 
lounge,  or  spice  and  raisins  for  the  pantry,  —  'twas 
earned  by  her  own  hands,  and  brought  with  such  free- 
heartedness  and  pride  that  the  quenched  faces  there 
began  to  catch  some  of  her  own  light  and  look  for 
ward  with  her  hope.  They  might  not  always  be  "  Eli- 
phalet  Butterfield's  folks"  -looked  down  on  as  the 
lowest  of  the  neighborhood.  With  this  strong,  eao-er, 
brave  girl  to  the  fore,  with  her  looks  to  open  her  way 
and  her  sense  to  follow  it,  —  with  the  improvements 
everywhere  taking  place  in  their  village  world,  what 
might  be  possible,  even  for  them  ? 

Her  mother,  seeing  the  girl's  beauty  improve  month 
by  month,  was  not  without  thought  that  Emeline 
might  make  her  own  good  fortune  and  theirs  by  a 
shorter  way  than  that  to  which  she  had  set  herself. 
But  then  came  the  certainty  that  her  chance  was 
closed  by  being  Eliphalet  Butterfield's  daughter  — of 
a  poor  and,  what  really  signified  more  in  that  natural 
society,  slack  family.  What  man  would  venture  to 
marry  into  such  a  degraded  family,  where  the  children 
were  brought  up  to  know  less  of  the  world  than  their 
low-down  neighbors  ?  Some  one,  not  belonging  to 
New  Canton,  might  come  and  carry  her  away  ;  and 
the  unselfish  mother  found  heart  to  wish  that  he 
might,  for  Emeline's  sake,  though  it  would  .be  taking 
the  very  light  out  of  her  own  life.  But  Emeline  was 
worthy  such  a  mother  ;  for,  had  such  a  fortune  been 
offered  her,  on  condition  of  forsaking  home,  it  would 


198  A  PAPER  CITY. 

have  had  no  temptation.  The  love  of  kindred  and 
ambition  for  them  drank  up  all  other  views ;  and, 
though  she  dreamed  of  love  and  having  some  one  to 
cherish  her,  as  other  girls  do,  they  were  the  haziest 
of  dreams  as  distant  as  they  were  enchanting,  and  set 
down  by  her  as  impossible,  unless  she  found  a  man  who 
would  marry  her  and  help  her  family.  She  knew  lit 
tle  enough  of  the  world  to  believe  that  such  a  thing 
might  be,  only  she  did  not  think  such  men  grew  in 
New  Canton. 

Yet  she  might  have  found  such  had  she  known  her 
power  ;  for  the  girl  was  very  fair,  with  such  a  plenish 
ing  as  Nature  sometimes  delights  in  giving  a  poor  girl, 
and  for  which  she  stints  the  dowries  of  a  hundred  bet 
ter  born.  In  after  years,  she  was  elegant  in  face  and 
manner,  as  became  her  beauty ;  but  slight  and  fret 
had  left  a  sullen  trace  on  her  features  and  a  sharpness 
in  the  eyes,  born  of  tantalizing  wants  and  desires  long 
denied.  Still,  though  given  over  to  wearing  cheap 
suits  and  the  thinnest  of  ribbons,  she  was  a  present 
able  creature  ;  and  the  instinct  of  a  woman  taught 
her  the  simplicity  that  best  set  off  her  luxuriant,  glow 
ing  style.  Already  the  girl  was  remarked  in  meet 
ing,  Sundays,  for  her  dark  dress  unrelieved  save  by 
the  collar  of  white,  and  a  white  silk  tie  at  the  throat, 
her  modest,  rough-straw  hat,  with  black  velvet  folded 
closely  about  it,  a  sprig  of  ivy  berries  for  sole  trim 
ming,  so  different  from  the  bright,  staring  blues  and 
garnets  that  prevailed  in  New  Canton ;  but  interest 
in  her  dropped  on  finding  that  it  was  Mrs.  Burt's 
housekeeper  and  'Liphalet  Butterfield's  girl,  down  on 
Soggy  Run.  Some  of  the  men  could  not  avoid  impru 
dent  expressions  in  her  favor,  and  were  rated  by  their 


ELIPHALET  BUTTERFIELD's   DAUGHTER.        199 

womenfolk  ;  but,  as  Emeline  kept  her  eyes  religiously 
to  herself,  the  harm  was  not  mutual.  Already  wo 
men's  brows  were  beginning  to  cloud  at  the  mention 
of  her  name  coupled  with  enthusiastic  comments. 
The  main  treason,  in  that  town  of  sallow,  angular, 
dispirited  women,  was  to  be  an  incarnation  of  health 
and  joyousness,  like  this  girl ;  and  her  intelligence  and 
nice  proprieties,  even  her  reserved  gait,  were  held  as 
putting  on  airs,  uncalled  for  in  old  Butterfield's 
daughter. 

In  that  town  of  a  practical  turn  of  mind,  her  looks 
were  hardly  as  much  to  her  good  as  the  fact  that  she 
was  a  born  manager. 

She  showed  this  by  the  way  she  had  put  her  hand 
to  the  old  homestead.  — 

"  There's  no  place  like  home  " 

always  had  a  bitter  sound  to  Emeline.  The  song 
sounded  like  a  sarcasm  and  a  jeer  to  her  for  years ; 
for  a  place  run  down  season  after  season,  a  dispirited 
mother,  and  brother  too  young  to  help  things,  and  a 
father,  who,  without  being  idle  or  dissipated,  con 
trived  to  make  his  family  about  as  miserable  as  if  he 
had  been  both,  were  all  that  home  had  to  offer  her. 
The  unsightly  farm  was  shut  up  in  the  heart  of  the 
woods ;  and  they  lived  away  from  everybody,  losing 
even  the  habits  of  the  unsophisticated  life  about 
them. 

The  road  past  the  mill,  on  the  edge  of  the  village, 
struck  across  the  open  to  a  spur  of  the  wood  south 
west.  There,  a  lane  led  amomg  tempting  shade  and 
\\\l(\  vines,  nobody  could  see  whither.  Through  the 
green,  rose  the  smoke  of  a  low  house,  not  far  from  the 


200  A  PAPER   CITY. 

main  road ;  but  wild  trees  and  orchard  were  so  thick 
about  it  as  to  hide  the  house  in  summer,  and  in  win 
ter  their  steins  formed  a  screen  for  the  homely  build 
ing.  The  front  yard  was  overgrown,  the  back  and 
side  of  the  road  littered  with  all  the  rubbish  that 
gathers  on  a  badly  kept  farm  ;  the  fences  were  patched 
and  propped,  and  the  stables  ruinous.  Yet  it  had  not 
lost  all  charm ;  for  Nature  had  done  her  kindly  best,  hid 
ing  the  old  plows  and  harrows  in  grass  knee-deep,  and 
had  set  the  fences  thick  with  sprouting  poplar  and 
wild-cherry,  and  showed  old  Butterfield  that  she  could 
and  would  counteract  his  unthrift  and  hate  of  every 
thing  that  was  not  laborious  and  unbecoming. 

He  could  have  spoiled  life  for  anybody  ;  and  he  had 
conscientiously  tried  to  make  it  a  burden  to  his  family 
for  twenty  years. 

He  had  been  an  ambitious  and  young  farmer  when 
he  married  one  of  the  shyest  and  handsomest  girls  of 
one  of  the  best  families  in  the  district.  Ill  luck  came 
to  him  overquick  and  fast ;  and,  when  he  was  glad  to 
leave  New  York  and  settle  in  Illinois,  where  land  was 
cheap  and  manners  primitive,  he  deliberately  settled 
into  hatred  of  the  ways  of  his  better  neighbors,  and 
centered  his  aims  on  getting  a  living  by  hard  work, 
which  he  managed  to  make  twice  as  hard  as  the  curse 
left  it.  His  temper  was  soured  ;  and  he  managed  to 
be  as  little  respected  as  if  he  had  been  a  thief  instead 
of  being  an  honest  man.  He  went  looking  like  a  ruf 
fian  and  a  horse-thief,  and  shambled  and  skulked  as 
if  he  was  one,  till  he  gave  himself  a  bad  name  by  the 
very  economy  meant  to  make  things  better.  It  had 
been  Emeline's  grief  at  home  that  they  could  never 
"  have  things  like  other  people  ;  "  and  she  had  put  her 


ELIPHALET   BUTTERFIBLD'S   DAUGHTER.       201 

hand  to  the  old  place  at  the  earliest  moment.  Eli- 
phalet  Butterfield  had  always  forbidden  such  non 
sense  as  the  planting  of  vines  to  hide  the  old  house, 
they  rotted  the  walls  so.  The  first  use  Emeline  made 
of  her  freedom,  on  coming  of  age,  was  to  stipulate  that 
she  was  to  be  let  alone  in  such  improvements  as  she 
chose  to  make  about  the  place,  on  penalty  of  refusing 
to  contribute  her  earnings  to  the  family  support.  Eli- 
phalet,  who  had  a  great  respect  for  a  dollar  and  a  half 
at  any  time,  had  made  a  great  show  of  refusing,  but 
finally  had  given  way. 

The  result  showed  that  he  had  better  have  given  it 
to  her  a  good  deal  sooner. 

A  good-for-nothing  husband  and  father  could  not 
prevent  the  sun  from  shining  or  the  rain  from  falling 
or  seeds  from  obeying  the  kindly  impulses  of  Nature 
and  germinating,  nor  could  he  rob  the  soil  of  its  qual 
ities  ;  and,  as  Emeline  had  the  sun,  the  rain,  the  seeds, 
and  soil,  and,  as  she  had  got  sufficient  control  to  have 
the  use  of  these  free  gifts,  —  it  was  well  for  her  that 
they  were  free,  —  he  could  not  prevent  her  from  hav 
ing  some  vines  clambering  about  the  windows  in  front 
of  the  house,  hiding,  with  their  wealth  of  green,  the 
hideous  brown  of  decayed  wood,  and  giving  the  room 
inside  another  and  a  better  look.  Nor  could  he  pre 
vent  her  from  laying  out  beds,  and  filling  them  with 
rich  mold,  in  which  she  planted  the  flowers  she  loved, 
and  watched  and  tended  them,  finding  delight,  not 
only  in  the  flowers,  but  in  the  humanizing  work  of 
caring  for  them. 

And,  to  his  great  disgust,  —  for  he  wanted  both  the 
children  in  the  potato-patch  at  the  time,  —  aided  and 
abetted  by  Tom,  who  was  somewhat  less  afraid  of  his 


202  A  PAPER   CITY. 

father,  she  cleaned  out  the  brush  that,  for  years,  had 
dammed  the  little  run,  and  made  an  unsightly  swamp 
in  the  very  front  of  the  grounds  about  the  house,  and 
so  directed  the  flow  of  the  water  that  the  little  rivulet, 
released  from  the  degrading  bondage  of  the  brush,  be 
came  a  very  pretty  stream,  and  was  an  ornament  in 
stead  of  a  blotch  upon  the  landscape. 

And  so  one  thing  after  another  she  did,  till  the  But- 
terfield  house,  cheap  and  miserable  as  it  was,  became 
a  very  pretty  place,  and  all,  as  Butterfield  himself  was 
constrained  to  admit,  without  costing  a  cent.  And 
her  ambition  soared  to  higher  things.  She  was  not 
without  hopes  that  the  turn  of  things  in  New  Canton 
might  benefit  her  father's  place  in  some  way  ;  and 
her  shrewd  brain  spent  many  hours  over  the  pros 
pect. 


JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   AX   EFFOL.T.         203 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   AN    EFFORT    TO    REFORM. 

THE  lawsuit  between  Price  and  the  land  company 
ended  at  four  p.  M.  Had  it  continued  late 
enough  in  the  night,  the  counsel  for  the  defendants 
might  have  gone  to  bed  sober,  providing  that  the 
grasping  Pilkin  had  not  kept  his  place  open  in  an 
ticipation  of  said  counsel's  coming.  But,  going  to 
the  jury  at  half-past  three,  and  the  jury  not  taking  a 
minute  to  consider  their  verdict,  it  left  him  the  weary 
hours  from  four  onward,  with  the  worst  company  in 
the  world  —  himself. 

The  truly  good  man  is  entitled  to  a  great  deal  more 
credit  than  he  gets.  If  there  is  in  him  a  weak  spot, 
ever  so  small,  evil  finds  it.  Opportunity  is  always 
against  the  man  who  is  striving  to  do  better.  Chances 
for  good  are  rare  ;  but  who  ever  was  good  for  want  of 
opportunity  to  be  bad?  Rum-mills  are  open  from 
Monday  morning  to  Sunday  night.  Churches  man 
age  to  keep  open  twelve  hours  in  the  week.  Vice  has 
a  tremendous  advantage  over  virtue.  We  climb  to 
goodness ;  we  slide  to  the  bad. 

He  had  been  sober  for  twenty-four  hours,  and 
the  enforced  abstinence  told  on  him.  His  mind,  re 
lieved  from  other  matters,  went  straight  to  Mary  Lewis, 


204  A   PAPER    CITY. 

now  Mary  Paddleford  ;  and,  to  get  away  from  her,  he 
went  to  Pilkin's.  There  he  took  revenge  for  the  self- 
deiiial  of  the  day.  He  surprised  his  boon  compan 
ions  by  the  frequency  of  his  potations,  and  delighted 
Pilkin  by  including  every  man  who  came  in  in  his  in 
vitations  to  drink.  Every  loafer  in  town  was  there  in 
half  an  hour ;  and  James  Gardiner,  talking  with  all 
and  paying  for  all,  inaugurated  the  wildest  debauch 
New  Canton  had  ever  seen.  It  kept  up  till  late  in  the 
night,  and  ended  no  one  knew  how.  The  next  morn 
ing,  Gardiner  found  himself  in  bed,  with  his  clothes 
on,  torn  and  horribly  soiled,  and  with  a  headache  that 
was  the  tortures  of  a  dozen  combined.  There  floated 
through  his  mind  an  indistinct  recollection  of  Sandy 
Beverstock,  —  of  allusions  to  "  'Liph'  Butterfield's 
daughter," — of  broken  chairs  and  glass-ware,  and  a  gen 
eral  free  fight,  with  a  dozen  men  attempting  to  hold 
him,  —  of  prostrate,  bleeding  men,  upset  tables,  and 
cards  strewed  over  the  floor,  yells  of  murder,  and  a 
general  pandemonium. 

He  awoke  feeling  like  several  different  persons, 
each  more  cranky  than  the  other.  Waking  with  the 
song  of  birds  and  the  flush  of  morning,  to  feel  as  fresh 
and  eager  as  the  new  day,  is  like  being  created  anew. 
But,  to  wake  with  a  head  red  hot  and  a  throat  husky 
with  vile  reminders,  with  youth  and  nerves  gone,  and 
in  their  stead  the  shaking  hand  and  weary  spirit  of 
eld,  is  the  nearest  foretaste  of  Hell. 

James  turned  from  the  light,  as  if  he  loathed  being 
face  to  face  with  it  again.  "Eleven  o'clock,"  he  said, 
taking  his  watch  from  his  vest.  "  What's  the  use  of 
giving  a  man  days  to  waste  like  this?  " 

He   dressed,  went   down   street   to  his  office,  and 


JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   AN   EFFORT.         205 

locked  himself  in.  He  had  not  breakfasted ;  for  he 
could  not  eat,  but  supplied  the  place  of  food  with  po 
tations,  which  gave  the  brain  and  nerves  a  new  cut, 
and  spurred  them  to  take  up  their  work  again.  He 
hated  the  idea  of  meeting  a  single  face ;  and  he  drew 
the  blind  down,  and  sat  down  by  the  table,  laying  his 
face  on  his  arms. 

He  was  sick  to  death  of  himself  and  the  life  he  led. 
The  low  converse  of  the  last  night's  company  rang  it 
self  over  in  his  ears,  till  he  thought  he  was  going 
mad.  He  wished  he  was  dead.  Everybody  was 
dead.  The  world  had  nothing  pleasant  about  it ;  peo 
ple  had  nothing  worth  caring  about  in  them ;  if  he 
was  sicker  of  one  than  another,  he  did  not  know 
which  it  was.  A  decent,  orderly  life  had  no  charms 
for  him.  Was  it  not  the  decent,  orderly,  and  respec 
table  who  had  broken  faith  with  him  and  ruined  his 
life?  He  hated  the  good  and  all  their  ways.  What 
were  they  but  thin-blooded,  selfish  policy -jobbers  ? 
He  hated  equally  the  low,  selfish  hounds  among  whom 
.he  found  himself.  He  hated  old  Keyser,  who  cheated 
at  cards,  and  was  too  sly  to  be  caught  at  it,  and  stole 
and  cheated  in  business  the  same  way  ;  he  hated  younj^ 
Starkey,  who  had  taken  a  waiter-girl  out  of  the  Grand 
Central,  and  kept  her  in  red  ribbons  across  the  river  ; 
he  hated  Carpenter,  the  broken-up  lawyer,  who  had 
an  affair  with  a  married  woman  in  Chicago,  and  could 
not  help  talking  about  it  in  his  cups.  He  was  tired 
of  the  talk  men  had  together  —  lively  and  spicy  they 
called  it,  though  sometimes  they  lapsed  into  silence, 
worn  out  with  their  own  ribaldry.  And  that  cruel, 
miserable  girl,  and  her  still  more  cruel  mother,  had 
sent  him  to  this  ;  and  they,  with  all  the  straight-walk- 


206  A  PAPER   CITY. 

ing,  respectable  matrons  in  town,  were  feeling  a  great 
deal  too  good  to  speak  to  him  or  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  him.  "  Old  pmdes  and  harridans,''  Mr.  James 
profanely  called  them,  to  himself,  as  if  they  did  not 
do  things  every  day,  under  their  saintly  cloaks,  that 
he  would  put  his  hand  in  the  fire  rather  than  do  — 
backbite  and  grieve  and  ruin  innocent  people  in  their 
way,  with  no  more  compunction  than  they  killed  flies. 
He  despised  and  loathed  them  all. 

He  could  not  go  on  as  he  was  doing.  The  disgust 
of  the  life  would  kill  him.  He  meant  to  leave  it  off 
-  not  to  join  the  company  of  the  Lewises  and  Burts, 
the  elect  of  the  town,  but  because  he  hated  the 
roughs  and  sinners  as  much  as  he  did  the  Pharisees 
who  prided  themselves  on  their  behaving.  It  would 
be  a  cold,  weary  life,  with  no  heart  in  it ;  but  he  would 
have  such  company  as  he  wanted,  or  he  would  have  none 
at  all.  He  promised  himself  the  sorry  satisfaction  of 
showing  New  Canton  folks  that  he  could  be  as  orderly 
and  diligent  as  any  penny-scraper  in  town ;  and,  when 
they  were  looking  up  to  him  as  a  model  of  punctual 
ity  and  a  man  who  met  every  claim  upon  him,  he 
would  snub  the  puny  souls,  and  show  his  immeasur 
able  scorn  of  their  petty  ways  and  precepts. 

Few  have  made  such  resolves  with  less  heart  in  the 
work  than  James  Gardiner.  When  he  fold  himself 
he  would  enjoy  the  privilege  of  cutting  Pilkin's  set, 
he  was  not  sure  that  the  ill-favored  movement  toward 
better  things  would  not  yield  to  the  dullness  of  the 
next  evening  alone,  and  he  be  driven  to  that  unsavory 
company  for  want  of  better.  He  did  not  care  any 
thing  in  particular  about  being  good.  If  he  had  a 
choice,  it  was  to  be  just  as  wicked  and  reckless  in  an- 


JAMES   GARDINER   MAKES   AN  EFFORT.         207 

other  way.  Only  it  must  be  in  some  way  that  did  not 
disgust  his  taste.  He  did  not  want  to  be  good,  but  to 
be  clean. 

The  first  thing  he  did  was  to  send  for  a  woman  to 
clean  his  office,  with  orders  to  have  it  dry  and  in  order 
by  three  o'clock.  The  next,  was  to  go  home  and  take 
a  hot  bath,  in  which  he  scrubbed  himself,  as  if  moral 
defilement  was  a  skin  secretion,  to  be  rid  of  by  soap 
and  polishing  with  a  rough  towel.  Then  lie  carefully 
endued  himself  in  a  fresh  tweed  suit,  and  flung  his 
gay  neckerchief  into  a  drawer.  (Starkey's  Bill  had 
praised  it  the  other  day.)  He  hesitated  about  sub 
mitting  to  a  prim  cravat  and  collar,  and,  as  it  was 
warm  weather,  compromised  for  a  low  collar,  fastened 
by  a  gilt  button.  This  done,  and  flattering  himself 
that  he  did  not  look  too  much  reformed,  he  went  to 
his  office,  locked  the  door,  and  set  the  windows  open, 
with  the  sweet  air  drawing  through  the  half-opened 
shutters.  In  passing  through  his  mother's  garden,  as 
he  left  the  house,  he  had  cut  a  great  bunch  of  roses, 
hoping  they  would  yield  him  some  sort  of  pleasure  ; 
and  the  office  wore  a  very  tidy  air. 

Then  he  sat  down  to  be  good,  and,  the  truth  must 
be  told,  with  poor  encouragement.  The  office  was  too 
damp  to  be  comfortable,  and  the  bareness  and  loneli 
ness  weighed  down  James's  spirit.  Barren,  cold,  and 
dismal  the  future  rolled  before  him,  a  procession  of 
such  interminable  dull  hours  as  this,  the  charnel  chill 
of  which  struck  to  his  soul.  He.  would  win  honors, 
and  know  a  great  many  people,  not  one  of  whom 
would  interest  him.  All  that  he  cared  for  had  been 
lost  by  the  falseness  of  one  white-throated,  slim- 
waisted  girl,  whose  .picture  floated  ever  before  him,  its 


208  A   PAPER   CITY. 

sensitive  hair  wound  about  her  delicate  head  and  curl 
ing  in  large  rings  about  that  sweet  neck  he  had  so 
often  kissed.  Is  there  any  thing  in  this  world  that 
can  so  disgust  and  weary  one  as  the  remembrance  of 
kisses  given  to  one  no  longer  loved  ?  She  had  smiled 
at  him  with  such  beguiling  sweetness  in  her  glance  ; 
her  fingers  twined  round  his  arm  so  clinging  and  im 
pulsive  ;  she  knew  how  to  call  him  such  dear  names ; 
she  met  him  with  such  pretty  eagerness,  and  had  rested 
in  his  arms  so  confidingly  and  happy  when  he  gathered 
her  to  him ! 

The  thought  of  those  old  sweet  hours  sent  him  mad 
again.  He  hated  all  bright,  loving,  lovely  things,  in 
his  despair.  The  flowers  mocked  him.  What  was  he, 
a  cheated  lover,  doing  with  roses,  as  if  he  might  be 
happy  in  their  blush  and  perfume?  He  sprang  up 
savagely,  tore  open  the  blind,  and  flung  the  roses  into 
the  street,  as  if  he  meant  to  throw  away  all  hope  and 
trust  and  desire  with  them. 

A  girl  was  coming  down  the  plank  walk,  and  James 
went  back  hot  and  affronted  in  his  anger.  What  did 
he  care  who  saw  what  he  did?  New  Canton  might 
call  him  crazy,  if  it  chose,  as  it  called  him  lost  and 
dissipated.  But  his  afternoon  was  no  longer  a  passive 
dullness.  He  drew  the  blind  again,  and  took  a  book, 
musing  how  many  years  he  must  sit  down  to  that 
table  in  that  methodical  fashion,  with  as  little  relish 
as  he  felt.  Carpenter  tried  the  door-knob,  and  went 
away,  without  suspicion  that  the  occupant  could  be 
within  and  not  feel  disposed  for  his  company.  Five 
minutes  after,  Starkey  strolled  along,  and,  finding  the 
door  locked,  put  his  head  in  at  the  window,  and  inter 
viewed  his  friend  from  that  position. 


JAMES    GARDINER   MAKES   AN   EFFORT.         209 

"  Less  go  down  t'  the  place,  Jim." 

"What place? "without lifting  his  head  from  the 
book  he  was  studying. 

"  Presbyterian  Church,  o'  course.  Where  else  ?  " — 
with  a  burst  of  laughter. 

"  Don't  want  to,"  said  Jim,  doggedly,  digging  into 
his  book  as  if  it  had  absorbing  interest  for  him. 

"  Aren't  you  going  down  to  Pilkin's  ? "  asked 
Starkey,  in  open  wonder,  "  It  was  too  lively  last 
night  ;  but  we'll  have  a  nice  genteel  game  to-night, 
and  not  let  those  rough  fellows  in.  Take  Pilk's  little 
room.  See?" 

"  Can't  go,"  responded  James,  briefly. 

"  Oh,  pshaw  !  Now  that  won't  do.  What  are  we 
going  to  do  without  you  ?  You're  not  going  back  on 
us?" 

"  I'm  not  going,  I  tell  you,"  said  James,  with  de 
cided  emphasis.  "  A  fellow  hasn't  got  to  go  to  that 
blasted  hole  unless  he  wants  to,  has  he  ?  Don't  you 
see  I'm  busy  ? "  And  James  turned  his  back  and 
squared  his  shoulders  in  a  way  which  cut  off  all  chance 
for  conversation. 

Half  an  hour  after,  along  came  Carpenter  again, 
curious  to  see  what  sort  of  a  change  was  working  in 
James's  mood.  Gardiner  spied  him  coming  down 
street,  and,  by  way  of  friendly  salutation,  slammed 

down  his  window.    Carpenter  knocked  twice,  thrice, 

waited,  — tried  a  fourth  time,  and  waited  again.  He 
knew  the  tenant  of  the  office  was  within ;  and  he 
wanted  to  see  how  long  the  siege  would  hold  out. 
While  he  was  standing  on  the  step,  a  foot  from  the 
sidewalk,  Peppernell  strolled  along. 

"  What  y'  standing  there  for  ?  "  was  that  worthy's 

14 


210 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


salutation,  taking  airs  of  being  James's  next  friend. 
"  Last  place  to  look  for  Gardiner." 

"  He's  inside,"  said  Carpenter,  in  an  undertone. 
"  I  saw  him  shut  the  window  a  minute  ago." 

But  not  for  Peppernell  or  Carpenter  or  Hewitt  or 
Pilkin  himself  was  James  to  be  badgered  out  of  his 
den  that  afternoon.  He  locked  the  door,  and  went 
home  to  supper,  deranging  the  family  habits  by  this 
unlooked-for  regularity.  He  took  care  to  hinder  any 
body  from  raising  expectations  of  him,  being  as  surly 
and  unsocial  as  ever,  and,  when  the  meal  was  over,  dis 
appeared  to  his  office  again. 

For  a  week,  the  haunts  that  had  known  Gardiner 
knew  him  no  more.     This  sudden  defection  was  the 
subject  of  much  curiosity  in  the  circle  of  which  he 
had  been  a  favorite.     His  manner  when  he  met  any 
of  the  gang  was  still  more  open  to  criticism.     If  he 
saw  any  of  them  coming,  he  made  no  secret  of  turn 
ing  short  corners,  and  would  cross   the    street   aii}^- 
where  to  avoid  them.     His  answers  were  of  the  brief 
est,  and  not  the  most  civil.     For  a  bow,  he  turned  his 
head  away  from  the  person  speaking  to  him ;  and  a 
mumble  or  a  growl  did  service  as  a  response  to  greet 
ings.     When  invited  to  join  the  old  party,  at  Pilkin's, 
his  answer  invariably  was,  "  Busy."     Not  one  of  them 
had  ever  been  able  to  get  into  his  office  since  the  day 
of   James's  reform   house-cleaning  ;    and   when   they 
met,  unavoidably,  his  freezing  and  unaffected  indif 
ference  was  more   than   those   sensitive    souls  could 
stand.     Questioned  by  the  boldest  as  to  the  change 
and  accused  of  wanting  good  feeling  for  his  friends, 
he  listened  in  solemn  silence  till  the  complaint  wound 
up,  with  an  astonished  "  be  hanged !  "  which  had  the 


JAMES    GARDINER   MAKES    AN  EFFORT.         211 

effect  of  leaving  the  questioner  feeling  small  and  sen 
timental.  To  the  next  appeal  he  vouchsafed  the  con 
soling  reply :  "  Can't  a  fellow  wait  for  company  till 
he  wants  it  ?  Tm  sick  of  gab  !  "  This -course  of  con 
duct  reduced  that  uncertain  quantity  known  as*  his 
popularity,  but  it  rid  him  of  harpies.  He  was  even 
set  on  a  higher  plane  at  Pilkin's,  as  a  man  whom  it 
was  no  longer  prudent  to  slap  on  the  shoulders  br  ask 
personal  questions. 

Peppernell  —  who,  as  a  self-appointed  minister  of 
police,  kept  an  eye  on  his  fellow-citizens  —  was  much 
exercised  to  know  what  James  did  with  himself,  as  he 
was  no  longer  to  be  found  at  Pilkin's  or  Dutch  Sam's, 
over  the  river.  Two  or  three  nights'  watching  and  cau 
tious  reconnoitering  through  the  blinds  put  it  beyond 
question  that  he  spent  them  in  study  at  his  office. 
When  papers  were  to  be  drawn,  James  was  on  hand  ; 
and  the  statutes  were  as  much  at  home  on  his  table  as 
the  "  Three  Guardsmen  "  or  "  Locksley  Hall."  He  vol 
unteered  his  counsel  in  a  short  case,  soon  after,  and 
carried  it  through  before  Squire  Sharp,  with  such 
choice  of  vituperation  and  utter  disregard  of  proba 
bilities  as  carried  away  both  judge  and  jury,  and 
brought  in  a  verdict  for  his  astonished  client. 

When  the  man,  a  mended  and  faded  specimen,  with 
bleached  hair,  came  to  pay  his  fee,  James  chucked  it 
in  his  face  again,  and  told  him  to  take  it  home  to  his 
wife.  "  Don't  let  me  hear  of  your  spending  any  thing 
at  Pilkin's,  though,"  he  said,  sharply.  «  As  sure  as 
you  do,  I'll  put  the  other  side  up  to  points,  and  have 
the  case  tried  over  ;  and  I  won't  take  it  next  time. 
Go  home,  and  mend  your  fence  ;  and  save  your  polite 
ness  till  you  get  there.  Your  wife  hasn't  heard  a 


212  A  PAPER   CITY. 

pleasant  word  out  of  your  mouth  three  years  come 
January,  old  of  the  moon.     Get !  " 

This  speech  was  repeated,  and,  strange  to  say,  ap 
proved  of  generally. 

But  the  barren  midnights,  the  weary  dawns,  and 
wakings  to  a  life  out  of  which  all  pleasure  had  slipped 
were  more  like  the  record  of  some  woeful  girl's  first 
blighting  than  the  experiences  of  a  young,  strong 
man. 

He  could  not  work  always  ;  and  there  was  nothing 
in  the  world  to  which  he  could  turn  that  yielded  re 
lief.  He  could  keep  his  mind  on  play  for  awhile  ;  but 
cards  and  chess  pall  when  played  steadily  six  even 
ings  in  a  week  with  the  same  partners,  before  one  is 
forty.  Novels  had  lost  their  sovereign  charm  ;  and 
the  only  solace  he  found,  when  tired  studying  the 
dryest  chapters  of  law,  was  to  take  up  his  Shakespeare, 
and  find  in  those  living  pages  words  vivid  enough  to 
draw  his  mind  away  from  its  own  griefs  or  some  echo 
that  gave  them  voice.  And,  letting  the  book  fall,  he 
would  brood  till,  with  the  long  sigh  that  ended  every 
day,  he  would  rouse  himself  and  go  to  bed. 

His  reform  left  him  as  entirely  alone  as  if  he  were 
in  the  middle  of  the  Great  Sahara.  He  needed  a 
friend  who  could  fill  the  void  left  by  Mary  Lewis's 
desertion  ;  but  where  could  he  find  any  companion 
ship  of  the  sort  he  craved  ?  Not  among  the  men  of 
his  acquaintance;  for  he  loathed  the  low  set  with 
whom  he  had  identified  himself,  and  those  who  were 
sufficiently  respectable  were  too  stupid  to  be  desirable 
company.  He  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  relief 
it  would  be  to  find  some  woman  who  wouldn't  bore 
him,  who  was,  at  least,  friendly  to  him,  and  had 


JAMES    GARDINER   MAKES   AN   EFFORT.         213 

enough  in  her  to  save  him  from  getting  tired  of  her. 
But  such  a  woman  would  be  a  white  crow  in  New 
Canton. 

In  turning,  he  glanced  out  of  the  open  window,  and 
met  a  face  and  a  look  that  filled  him  with  a  momen 
tary  sensation  that  he  had  actually  found  the  comrade 
to  take  his  mind  from  his  loneliness.  It  was  a  wo 
man's  face  that  looked  into  his,  speaking,  against  its 
will,  in  a  slyly  eloquent  way  —  a  gaze  prolonged  a 
moment,  unconsciously,  as  though  the  giver  of  it 
waited  recognition.  There  was  neither  admiration  in 
the  look  nor  actual  invitation,  but  that  blending  of 
both  best  expressed  as  recognition.  In  law  phrase,  it 
was  a  case  of  Nature  vs.  Prudence,  in  which  Nature 
always  wins. 

The  girl  passed  on  ;  but  not  so  her  face  or  the  look, 
which  remained  with  him. 

James  Gardiner  thought  for  a  moment,  and,  rising, 
went  to  the  window,  and  gazed  after  the  vanishing 
form  of  the  girl. 

It  was  the  woman  at  whose  feet,  a  week  before,  the 
roses  he  threw  out  of  his  window  had  fallen,  and 
who  had  given  him  the  glance  of  pity,  which  he  still 
remembered. 

"  What  a  splendid  step  she  has,  with  that  figure  ! 
It's  old  Butterfield's  girl,  Burt's  housekeeper,  the  one 
I  pounded  Bill  Thompson  for,  the  night  Sandy  and  I 
got  into  that  row  at  Pilkin's.  That  square  look  at 
me  meant  the  girl  wants  to  be  grateful.  Be  as  grate- 
as  you  please,  young  woman."  And  he  turned  to  his 
books,  feeling  less  lonely  than  he  did  before  the  "  But- 
terfield  girl  "  passed  his  window. 

"  I  wish  I  could  get  interested  in  somebody  again," 


214  A   PAPER   CITY. 

he  mused  that  night,  as  the  west  wind  waved  his  win 
dow-curtain  gently,  keeping  idle  time  to  his  thoughts. 
"  Men  are  rough.  If  there're  nice,  they  think  too 
much  of  themselves.  I  wish  I  could  find  some  girl 
who  would  bear  thinking  about.  I  wouldn't  care 
what  sort  of  an  attraction  it  was,  if  it  would  only  give 
me  something  I  didn't  actually  despise  to  feel  friendly 
to.  I  wish  to  Heaven  I  could  fall  in  love.  That's 
past  hoping  for.  O  Mary !  " 


HEW   CANTON   IN    THE   DUMPS.  215 


CHAPTER    XV. 

NEW   CANTON  IN   THE   DUMPS. 

SIMON  said  "  Thumbs  down,"  in  the  land  game, 
and  New  Canton  was  down. 

People  who  had  put  money  into  the  speculation,  on 
the  magnificent  promises  of  Peppernell  and  Burt, 
were  anxious  to  find  their  treasures  growing,  and, 
child-like,  were  pulling  up  their  beans  to  see  if  they 
were  beginning  to  sprout.  Silsbee  had  bought  six 
lots  in  the  North  Addition,  as  an  investment ;  but  old 
Orr  died  unexpectedly,  and  his  heirs  wanted  to  sell 
that  corner  which  jutted  into  Silsbee's  farm,  and  upon 
which  he  kept  an  Ahab's  eye  ever  since  he  settled  in 
the  country.  It  kept  coming  into  Silsbee's  head  what 
an  uncommonly  nice  piece  of  business  it  would  be  to 
sell  two  of  those  lots  at  a  large  advance,  and  make 
the  coveted  piece  of  grass-land  his  own.  Amos  Prit- 
chard's  youngest  daughter  was  going  to  be  married, 
and  her  father  would  find  it  handy  to  sell  a  lot  for  her 
portion,  and  save  taking  in  the  comfortable,  tidy  mort 
gage  where  his  odd  money  was  lying.  Levi  Parmalee 
had  put  his  wife's  money  into  lots,  instead  of  paying 
off  the  mortgage  on  his  place,  intending  to  sell  at  the 
first  rise,  and  clear  his  house  with  the  profits,  leaving 
the  investment  clear.  But  the  mortgage  was  coming 


216 


A   TAPER   CITY. 


due,  and  the  lots  were  not  selling.  Fitzhugh,  whose 
wife  could  not  bear  not  to  see  him  doing  as  other  men 
did,  had  made  a  payment  on  a  poor  little  lot,  which 
he  would  be  very  glad  to  sell  just  now  for  enough  to 
pay  his  grocery  bill  for  a  year. 

Thompson,  of  Connecticut,  was  not  named;  and 
even  Burt  did  not  find  it  prudent  to  recall  the  mem 
ory  of  that  eminent  financier.  Price  had  faded  out 
of  mind,  save  of  a  few  who  remembered  him  long 
enough  to  say,  with  the  exceedingly  shrewd  expres 
sion  which  showed  how  much  they  would  like  to  know 
the  truth  of  what  they  guessed,  that  "  Burt  played 
that  pretty  well,  didn't  he?  " 

Hap  Chapman  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  apropos  of 
land  company  matters,  that  an  empty  barrel  looked  as 
full  as  a  full  one,  provided  you  don't  peek  into  the 
bung-hole,  intimating  that  he  had  looked  into  the  land 
company's  barrel,  and  it  didn't  swash  any  when  he 
rolled  it. 

There  were  no  thousands  of  Irishmen  on  the  ground, 
with  picks  and  shovels  ;  no  railroad-building  machin 
ery  appeared ;  and  no  Chinamen  made  the  streets  yel 
low.     Mr.  Burt  held,  that,  in  building  the  railroads, 
Chinese  labor  should  be  employed.     "  There  is  a  prej 
udice    against    them,'*  said  he,  "  because  they  work 
cheap.     That  is  what  recommends  them  to  me.     I  am 
laboring  to  develop  the  wealth  of  this  region,  and  I 
want   the    cheapest   labor.     They  are   heathen,  it  is 
true;  but  what  better  is  a  Catholic  Irishman?     We 
may  convert  the  Chinese   to    Christianity,  and  they 
may  carry  back  the  Gospel  to  their  benighted  coun 
trymen.      Cheap   labor  and  cheap  missionary  enter 
prise  !     When  godliness  is  gain,  I  believe  in  serving 
ourselves  as  well  as  others." 


NEW  CANTON  IN   THE   DUMPS.  217 

Mr.  Bnrt  went  so  far  as  to  mention  to  his  church  a 
project  of  organizing  a  movement  upon  the  Chinese, 
when  they  came,  that  as  many  as  possible  might  be 
gathered  into  the  fold. 

But  neither  heathen  Chinaman  nor  Catholic  Irish 
man  appeared,  and  the  railroads  were  not. 

Mr.  Burt  and  Col.  Peppernell  tried  all  sorts  of  ex 
pedients  to  restore  confidence ;  but  in  vain.  They 
went  to  Chicago,  and  returned  with  the  statement 
that  work  on  the  roads  would  begin  within  ten  days  ; 
but  the  news  was  received  with  a  cool  incredulity  that 
drove  Peppernell  mad  and  worried  the  cooler  Burt. 
When  Col.  Peppernell  opened  a  letter  at  the  post-of 
fice,  and,  with  an  expression  of  relief,  exclaimed, 
"  There,  the  picks,  shovels,  and  wheelbarrows  have 
been  bought,  and  it  is  going  on  now,  sure !  "  there 
was  a  smile  from  all  who  heard  it. 

A  series  of  articles  from  Burt,  on  the  cheapness  of 
Chinese  labor,  and  detailing  the  experience  of  the 
Central  Pacific,  excited  no  attention,  even  though  the 
44  Forum  "  gave  them  the  best  place  in  the  paper. 

The  more  people  would  not  listen  to  him,  the  more 
he  dinned  into  their  ears.  He  was  a  man  of  singular 
pertinacity,  and  the  word  fail  had  never  been  in  his 
dictionary.  The  mails  groaned  with  his  circulars  and 
maps,  and  the  two  newspapers  of  the  town  were  filled 
with  the  most  encouraging  statements  of  its  pros 
pects. 

Col.  Peppernell  showed  the  editor  of  the  "  Forum  " 
the  letter  from  Chicago  mentioning  the  purchase  of 
material  for  the  new  road ;  and  the  "  Forum  "  an 
nounced  the  cheering  intelligence  under  great  head 
lines,  and  assured  its  hosts  of  readers  (it  had  a  circu- 


218 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


lation  of  nearly  two  hundred)  that  the  time  for  doubt 
or  uncertainty  had  gone  by  ;  the  clouds  that  had  hung 
so  long  upon  the  mountain's  brow  had  been  swept 
away  by  the  breath  of  enterprise.  Of  the  completion 
of  the  Midland  there  could  be  no  longer  any  earthly 
doubt ;  and  the  other  roads  must  follow,  as  a  matter 
of  course.  The  "  Forum  "  went  on  : 

"  Within  a  year  the  Midland  will  be  finished,  and 
the  C.  &  C,  A.  &  P.,  and  the  G.  C.  C.,  will  be  well 
under  way.  The  long-hoped-for  improvement  of 
boggy  Run  will  have  become  an  accomplished  fact, 
and  what  then  ?  With  fleet  locomotives,  with  breath 
of  flame,  and  muscles  of  iron,  speeding  across  our  fer 
tile  plains  —  with  scores  of  steamers,  from  the  palatial 
side-wheeler  to  the  diminutive  but  still  useful  clinkie, 
covering  the  bosom  of  Soggy  Run,  bearing  the  com 
merce  of  the  world  to  our  marts—  what  may  we  not 
hope  for  New  Canton  ?  We  do  not  say  it  will  become 
the  first  city  of  the  continent,  for  we  desire  to  always 
speak  within  bounds.  We  had  rather  understate  than 
overestimate ;  but  it  will  certainly  rival  the  proudest 
cities  of  the  Union.  We  can  see  the  shadow;  the 
solid  substance  is  not  far  behind." 

In  its  answers  to  correspondents,  the  "Sentinel" 
had  these: — 

"A.  B.  —  A  dinkie  is  a  small  stern-wheel  boat, 
used  largely  on  the  Ohio.  You  will  see  many  of 
them  on  Soggy  Run,  when  the  improvement  is  com 
pleted  ;  for  they  will  run  up  in  shoals  from  the  Ohio 
and  its  tributaries.  The  lots  you  mention  are  very 
cheap." 

"  PTJBLICOLA.  —  Lots  in  New  Canton  are  remark 
ably  cheap,  considering  the  prospects  of  the  city. 
What  is  |40  per  foot  front,  now  that  the  completion 
of  the  Midland  is  assured,  for  lots  on  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  ?  " 


NEW    CANTON    IN    THE    DUMPS..  219 

"  MARCUS.  —  There  is  sand  fit  for  glass-making  in 
abundance  two  hundred  miles  south  of  New  Canton. 
The  completion  of  the  Midland  will  bring  that  sand, 
and  soda  from  the  East,  and  limestone  from  Ohio,  to 
our  very  doors,  as  well  as  coal  from  Pennsylvania. 
There  is  no  better  point  for  the  manufacture  of  glass 
in  the  Union." 

"  X.  Y.  —  New  Canton  will,  of  course,  be  a  cotton 
manufacturing  center.  With  the  improvement  of 
Soggy  Run,  we  shall  be  very  close  to  cotton ;  and  the 
Midland  will  bring  us  fuel  from  Pennsylvania,  at  a 
very  low  rate.  The  same  may  be  said  of  tobacco, 
and,  for  that  matter,  of  every  thing  else.  The  iron 
of  Tennessee  and  the  coal  of  Pennsylvania  will  meet 
here.  New  Canton  must  be  an  immense  manufactur 
ing  center.'* 

The  elder  Gardiner  was  growing  very  uneasy  over 
his  prospects.  The  work  Mr.  Burt  was  doing  re 
quired  considerable  money  ;  and  he  was  advancing  it, 
though  every  dollar  was  a  drop  of  blood.  He  sought 
James,  as  he  always  did  in  trouble,  and  cautiously 
asked  his  advice. 

"  I  should  get  out  of  it  as  quickly  as  possible,"  was 
the  son's  ready  answer.  "  Burt  is  a  scheming  specu 
lator,  and  Peppernell  is  as  mean  a  man  —  ' 

"  Not  mean,  Jim  ;  not  exactly  that.  I  have  known 
Peppernell  a  great  many  years  ;  and,  while  he  is  not 
altogether  what  a  man  ought  to  be,  he  is  a  very  kind 
one,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  under  his  rough 
ness." 

"  There  ought  to  be,  for  he  never  lets  any  of  it 
out." 

"  I  don't  think  you  ought  to  say  so,  my  son.  Only 
this  morning  he  came  to  the  bank  with  a  case  of  dis 
tress,  in  a  way  that  did  him  credit.  A  poor  widow 


220  A   PAPER   CITY. 

in  the  second  ward  had  not  a  mouthful  to  eat,  and  no 
clothing  for  her  children ;  and  her  landlord,  a  grasp 
ing,  avaricious,  unfeeling  man,  threatened  to  turn  her 
out  before  noon.  Peppernell  said  it  was  a  shame  that 
a  poor  family  should  be  turned  out  to  perish  in  New 
Canton,  and  proposed  that  we  make  up  the  amount 
amongst  us  ;  and  we  did.  Peppernell  went  out  with 
the  money  to  pay  her  rent,  and  said  he  was  glad  to 
feel  that  we  had  made  one  poor  creature  happy.  A 
man  can't  be  bad  who  has  such  a  heart  for  the  suffer 
ings  of  others." 

44  What  widow  was  it?" 

"  McGinnis,  down  by  the  railroad." 

The  irreverent  James  burst  into  a  peal  of  laughter, 
which  was  long  continued. 

"  What  in  the  name  of  manners  are  you  laughing 
at  ?  "  asked  his  astonished  father. 

"  Father,"  replied  Jim,  between  his  guffaws,  "  this 
is  the  best  I  ever  heard.  How  much  did  you  make 
up  ?  " 

"  About  thirty  dollars." 

"  Mrs.  McGinnis  is  the  Colonel's  tenant.  She  lives 
in  one  of  his  shanties  ;  and  that  thirty  dollars  will  pay 
arrearages  and  rent  for  a  quarter  in  advance  ;  and  the 
Colonel  himself  is  the  avaricious  landlord.  This  is 
too  good." 

It  was  well  enough  for  James  to  advise  his  father 
to  get  out ;  but  getting  out  was  not  so  easy  a  matter. 
He  could  not  get  out  with  the  money  he  had  ad 
vanced,  nor  could  he  get  out  of  the  obligations  he 
had  assumed.  What  was  worse,  he  felt,  that,  to  save 
what  he  had  already  invested,  he  might  be  compelled 
to  invest  more ;  and  so,  depending  upon  the  genius 


NEW    CANTON   IN   THE   DUMPS.  221 

and  activity  of  Burt,  he  did  all  he  could.     He  waited. 

The  air  of  universal  distrust  and  disatisfaction 
weighed  down  even  the  iron-willed  Burt.  He  could 
bear  ill  tongues  while  his  works  showed  such  results 
as  he  was  looking  for ;  but,  skillfully  as  he  might  toil, 
no  cheering  sign  appeared  to  lift  his  soul.  He  was 
disheartened,  though  he  fought  manfully  not  to  show 
it ;  —  who  was  there  to  show  his  depression  to  ? — but 
he  called  up  his  endurance  to  stand  by  his  venture  to 
the  last.  He  had  staked  all  he  had  on  the  success  of 
his  plans,  and  would  never  give  up  as  long  as  there 
was  a  chance  of  winning.  If  they  failed,  what  was 
there  worth  living  for,  anyhow  ?  He  said  to  himself, 
that  there  must  be  a  way  out  of  all  this  trouble,  if  it 
would  only  come  to  him.  Other  men  who  speculated 
had  these  deep  waters  to  go  through ;  and  he  might 
as  well  die  trying  to  pull  through.  There  must  be 
some  way,  he  repeated ;  and  he  spent  midnights  and 
dawns  and  noons  and  evenings,  Sundays  and  week 
days,  planning,  calculating,  and  studying  the  board 
anew,  waiting,  and  keeping  a  calm  face  by  force  of 
habit,  though  in  an  agony  of  suspense  that  took  savor 
from  his  food  and  drove  sleep  from  his  eyes. 

He  went  home  one  night  ready  to  give  up.  He  had 
labored  all  day,  as  he  labored  every  day,  with  all  the 
energy  he  possessed,  and  with  the  usual  result  —  noth 
ing.  He  had  not  sold  a  foot  of  ground  that  day,  or 
that  fortnight ;  and  he  could  rouse  no  one  to  sufficient 
interest  to  lend  a  hand  in  any  of  his  schemes.  His 
townsmen  he  had  talked  with  not  only  refused  to  do 
anything,  but  he  had  been  suffered  to  overhear  remarks 
which  would  scratch  the  skin  of  a  more  callous  finan 
cier.  What  galled  him  most  was,  that  Gardiner,  Sen- 


222  A  PAPER   CITY. 

ior,  in  whom  lie  trusted  and  hoped,  as  the  prop  of 
his  undertakings,  had  come  into  the  office  two  or  three 
times  that  day  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  had  some 
thing  of  a  disagreeable  nature  to  say,  and  went  out 
as  if  he  had  not  the  heart  to  say  it.  Paddleford, 
Lewis,  and  men  of  their  stamp,  looked  at  him  in  the 
peculiar  fashion  with  which  safe  men  regard  specula 
tors  of  whom  it  is  prudent  to  predict  any  thing  damag 
ing  and  immoral.  The  smaller  men  who  had  been 
induced  to  invest  their  earnings  in  lots,  mustered 
courage  to  walk  boldly  into  the  office,  and  demand 
something  definite  about  the  enterprise  on  which  they 
had  staked  their  money,  and  were  not  to  be  overawed 
by  high  looks  or  bluffed  by  non-committal  answers. 
As  Burt  had  very  little  encouraging  to  say,  and,  as 
they  did  not  believe  a  word  he  said,  they  went  away 
refusing  to  be  comforted. 

Burt  went  home  tired  —  that  was  nothing  new  ; 
but  he  had  the  worse  fatigue  of  discouragement.  It 
was  so  evident  that  the  tranquil  man  was  distressed, 
that  Mrs.  Burt  bustled  round  for  a  good  strong 
dose  of  colocynth,  and,  failing  to  get  him  to  accept 
that,  was  fain  to  urge  upon  him  podophyllin,  which 
would  be  sure  to  do  him  good,  because  it  was  fresh, 
and  how  lucky  she  thought  of  it.  Emeline,  who  di 
vined  at  the  first  look  that  he  was  troubled,  kept  the 
silence  she  knew  most  grateful  to  him  ;  but  could  not 
forbear  a  glance  or  two,  as  she  went  about  laying  the 
supper,  to  which  she  gave  more  than  usual  care. 
The  spotless  cloth,  fresh  from  its  ironed  folds,  some 
nice  pieces  of  china,  a  delicate  loaf  of  cake  and  a 
tempting  glass  dish  of  purple  grape  jelly  against  one 
of  amber  honey,  coffee  which  announced  its  aroma. 


NEW   CANTON  IN  THE   DUMPS.  223 

and  some  fragrant  browned  birds  appearing  at  last, 
made  a  meal  in  which  a  troubled  man  might  find  com 
fort  without  knowing  it.  The  brightness,  the  sparkle, 
the  savor  of  the  table,  the  clear  light,  shed  consola 
tion  over  Burt :  and  he  showed  it  by  dropping  into 
talk  as  he  ate. 

"  Things  wrong  at  the  office  ?  "  his  wife  began. 

"  Wrong!  "  Burt  replied,  savagely.  "  They  could 
not  be  worse.  Stagnation  is  no  word  for  it.  It's 
death." 

"Aren't  you  selling  lots?"  asked  Emeline,  quietly. 

"  Not  a  lot  to-day,  and  only  two  in  a  week.  It  is 
terrible.  I  don't  like  to  give  up  this  thing,  but,  if  it 
doesn't  improve,  I  shall." 

"  Everybody  would  be  glad  enough  to  buy  if  they 
only  had  the  money  to  pay,"  said  Emeline. 

u  Precisely.  They  haven't  any  money.  There 
isn't  anj-  money  here  in  this  dull  hole,  except  in  the 
hands  of  a  dozen  men ;  and  they  take  precious  good 
care  that  it  shan't  do  anybody  else  any  good.  People 
outside  won't  take  hold  till  they  see  that  our  own  citi 
zens  have  some  sort  of  faith  in  the  matter ;  and  so  it 
drags.  I  wish  I  had  never  gone  into  the  thing." 

"  Why  don't  you  make  money  ?  "  said  Emeline,  in 
nocently. 

"  Perhaps  you  can  tell  me  how  to  make  something 
out  of  nothing." 

"  I  thought  banks  made  money.  They  always  have 
enough,  and  are  always  taking  it  in,  and  never  seem 
to  pay  much  out." 

"  Emeline,  what  nonsense  you  are  talking,"  said 
Mrs.  Burt.  "  Give  me  another  biscuit.  What  do  you 
know  about  banks  and  money  and  such  things?  All 


224  A   PAPER   CITY. 

that  I  know  about  money  is,  that  it  is  very  hard  to 
get,  and  very  nice  to  have  when  you  want  it." 

"But  if  we  had  a  bank?"  asked  Mr.  Burt,  not 
heeding  his  wife's  interruption. 

"  If  I  were  a  man,  I  would  have  a  bank,  and  make 
money  plenty  for  the  poor  people,  keeping  the  biggest 
share  for  myself,"  said  Emeline,  mischieviously. 

"  Emeline,"  said  Burt,  lightly,  "the  land  company 
could  afford  to  pay  you  a  salary  to  tell  all  you  know 
and  all  }^ou  don't  know,"  —  a  doubtful  compliment  to 
which  she  made  a  pretty  mouth,  glad  she  could  divert 
the  moody  man  even  by  making  him  laugh  at  her. 

"  There  was  the  fisherman,"  she  said,  "  who  found 
a  magic  mill,  that  ground  out  whatever  he  wanted  it 
to  —  food  and  clothes  and  things.  It  always  seemed 
to  me  a  bank  was  like  that  mill.  It  made  money  for 
a  man  just  as  he  wanted  it  to.  Mr.  Burt,  how  do 
banks  make  money?  Is  it  just  by  printing  the  bills  ? 
What's  to  hinder  their  having  as  much  as  they  choose 
to?" 

"  Emeline,  were  you  just  three  years  old  yester 
day  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Burt,  with  an  indulgent  tone,  which 
took  the  edge  off  his  words.  "  This  is  what  happens 
when  young  women  talk  finance.  We  old  folks  have 
to  sit  back  and  learn  wisdom." 

Mrs.  Burt  thought  it  was  time  for  her  to  interfere. 

"  Emeline,"  she  said,  emphatically,  "  when  you  or 
I  can  teach  Mr.  Burt  any  thing,  it  will  be  when  we 
have  both  lost  all  the  good  looks  we're  so  proud  of," 
which  was  the  most  biting  satire  that  could  be  uttered 
without  entire  breach  of  the  peace.  Mr.  Burt  ate 
very  slowly ;  and,  when  Mrs.  Burt  made  a  remark,  he 
paid  no  more  attention  to  it  th#n  if  that  worthy  lady 


NEW   CANTON   IN   THE   DUMPS.  225 

had  been  discussing  a  new  pill.  Hastily  drawing  his 
meal  to  a  conclusion,  he  went  to  his  room,  and  locked 
himself  in. 

"  That  slip  of  a  girl  has  struck  the  very  idea  that 
has  been  in  my  mind  for  months,"  he  said  to  himself. 
"  If  Peppernell  was  a  better  man  —  a  man  with  more 
character — why  can't  I  get  hold  of  the  right  men  ?" 

He  sat  down  at  his  table,  and  covered  sheets  of  pa 
per  with  figures,  which  occupation  kept  him  till  late 


in  the  night. 


15 


226  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

A  CHANCE   MEETING. 

ALL  the  long  spring  days,  Emeline  loved  the  walk 
along  the  wood-road  afternoons,  home,  when 
Mrs.  Burt  was  away,  and  the  Burt  household  slept  in 
peace,  —  when  the  side  door  was  locked,  and  the  key 
hung  up  in  the  porch,  where  Mr.  Burt  could  find  it, 
if  he  came  home  early.  After  the  mill  was  reached, 
and  the  long  road  that  lay  in  sunshine,  she  was  her 
own  mistress,  and  fancy  free.  Her  face,  with  the 
moist,  dark  masses  of  feathery  curls,  that  hung  about 
her  cheeks  in  the  old,  lovely  fashion  that  might  have 
belonged  in  an  old  French  court ;  and  her  figure,  of 
middle  height,  as  supple  as  it  was  round  and  firm, 
charmed  even  the  eyes  of  the  old  women,  who  took 
their  cob  pipes  out  of  their  mouths  to  look  after  her 
with  "  There  goes  the  likeliest  gal  I've  seen  these 
twenty  year.  Women  ain't  put  up  that  way  nowadays." 
One  day  she  went  homeward,  firm-stepping  over 
the  short  turf,  her  hands  full  of  flowering-currant 
and  bits  of  sweetbrier  and  woodvine,  that  grew  wild 
by  the  ruins  of  a  burnt  farmhouse.  In  her  sun-hat  of 
coarse  white  straw,  woven  by  her  own  fingers,  with  a 
full  pink  rose,  just  plucked,  behind  her  ear,  she  was  a 
maiden  image  of  the  May.  It  was  a  piece  of  neigh- 


'  A  CHANCE  MEETING.  227 

borly  civility  in  those  parts  for  any  one  to  offer  a  ride 
to  a  woman  on  foot ;  and  Mr.  James  Gardiner,  driv 
ing  past,  out  of  careless  good  nature,  drew  up  beside 
her.  As  she  took  a  seat,  he  caught  the  first  glimpse 
of  her  face,  which  the  hat  had  hidden  from  his  eye, 
and  it  fixed  his  gaze,  for  an  instant,  involuntarily. 
He  had  offered  a  seat  in  his  wagon  to  a  young  person 
in  a  calico  gown  and  Quaker  hat,  who,  on  closer  sight, 
upturned  to  him  a  face  like  a  velvet-petaled  rose. 

"  A  woman,  and  a  handsome  one,"  was  James's  first 
thought.  "  I'll  take  good  care  to  let  her  alone." 
And  this  young  fellow,  once  the  most  gallant  of  his 
sex,  lapsed  into  utter  silence,  keeping  strictly  to  his 
own  affair  of  driving,  and  really  wrapped  in  his  own 
thoughts.  The  girl  at  his  side  did  not  resent  this  in 
the  least,  but  sat  decorously  away  from  him  as  far  as 
the  limits  of  the  carriage  would  allow,  looking  straight 
ahead,  studying,  in  fact,  how  to  make  the  trimmings 
for  her  mother's  dress.  And  so  the  finest  young  man 
and  woman  in  the  county  rode  side  by  side  through 
that  spring-lighted  region,  while  happy  winds  about 
them  played ;  and  neither  thought  or  talked  of  love. 
Unnatural  conjunction,  for  which  Mrs.  Tom  Paddle- 
ford,  deeply  exercised  that  afternoon  about  the  way 
her  husband's  shirts  were  turned  out  of  the  week's 
wash,  was  responsible. 

Nothing  could  have  proved  so  much  to  James's 
taste  as  a  woman  who  could  sit  beside  him  without 
making  talk.  This  pretty  young  lady  did  not  seem 
to  be  thinking  of  him  or  herself  at  all,  as  he  stole  a 
cold  glance  her  way  ;  and  he  had  relaxed  so  far  as  to 
think  of  speaking  to  her,  when  they  came  to  a  little 
green  lane  leading  to  a  house  hidden  in  the  boughs  of 


A   PAPER   CITY. 


orchard  trees.     «  This  is  my  way,"  she   said.     «  I'll 
thank  you  to  stop  here."      And,  before  he  could  get 
down  to  help  her  out,  she  alighted,  and  vanished,  with 
thanks  brief  and  sincere.     His  eyes  went,  with  a  touch 
of  curiosity,  after  the  neat,  composed  figure,  as  she 
went  over  the  grass  in  smooth,  rolling  fashion.      A 
man  of  the  world  would  have  been  impressed  with 
Emeline  at  a  glance  ;    but   your  country  youth,  en 
grossed  with  his  own  merits,  is  somewhat  obtuse  to 
the    charms  of  Nature   or   woman,  unless  duly  pre 
sented  and  certified  to.      If  James  had   heard  Miss 
Butterfield  spoken  of  as  a  pretty  girl,  with  elegant 
manners,  and  been  told  that  she  came  of  a  very  good 
family,  he,  with  all  the  rest  of  New  Canton  young  men, 
would   have  stood   outside   the  church,  Sundays,  to 
see  her,  and  have  shown  no  little  ingenuity  in  devices 
for  making  her  acquaintance.      As  it  was,  in  a  calico 
dress,  with  no  pretention,  walking  over  muddy  roads, 
he  found  her  pretty,  but  not  worth  a  second  thought 
from  the  lover  of  Mary  Lewis.      A  sick  heart  dreads 
nothing  so  much  as  being  tempted  to  repeat  the  ex 
periment  of  loving,  which  has  already  cost  it  so  dear. 
There  is  an  insult  to  its  virgin  fidelity  in  the  idea  of 
receiving  a  new  image  to  the  place  of  the  lost,  which 
it  mourns  so  piteously.      It  is  a  poor,  thin-blooded 
passion  which  seeks  distraction   from   its  mourning, 
and  can  lift  its  eyes  from  a  dead  love  to  the  face  of  &a 
new  one,  without  protest. 

James  drove  home  in  the  warm,  long  sunset,  to  find 
his  father  in  a  state  of  mind,  for  want  of  some  papers 
the  delinquent  Burt  had  failed  to  send  over  before 
closing  his  office.  The  dutiful  son  turned  his  horse, 
and  drove  to  Burt's,  fully  minded  to  collar  and  convey 


A   CHANCE   MEETING.  229 

him  down-town  again,  and  stand  over  him  till  he  un 
locked  and  delivered  papers  which  ought  to  have  been 
in  hand  by  noon.  In  the  dusk  of  the  house  he  could 
not  see  who  opened  the  door. 

"  Mr.  Burt  is  not  at  home,"  said  a  voice  singularly 
free  from  those  nasal  whines,  which  the  women  of 
New  Canton  considered  ornaments  of  speech.  "  He 
left  word,  if  anybody  called,  I  was  to  let  him  know. 
Will  you  wait  ?  " 

James  followed  the  unknown  into  the  sitting-room, 
deliciously  cool  and  fresh  with  sweetbricr  and  flower 
ing-currant.  On  the  table  was  a  white  basket  of 
mended  socks,  a  newspaper  scrap  and  bit  of  brier 
thrust  among  them,  woman  fashion.  The  room  was 
trim,  the  lamp  waiting  to  be  lighted,  and  an  open 
book  lay  on  the  window-seat.  A  child  loitering  by 
the  fence  was  despatched  for  Mr.  Burt ;  and  the 
young  woman  seated  herself,  not  without  a  glance  at 
the  book  ;  for  the  visitor  had  cut  short  her  precious 
hour  for  reading. 

"  I  think  I'll  go  out  and  take  a  look  at  Burt's  place," 
was  James's  remark,  as  he  turned  his  back  unceremo 
niously,  and  went  out  to  the  cabbage-beds  and  tulip- 
borders.  Emeline  made  a  little  face  behind  his  back. 
"You  can't  be  civil  to  me  now,"  she  said  to  herself; 
"but  sometime  I  may  be  worth  even  your  talking 
to." 

The  young  fellow  out  in  the  garden  was  no  phe 
nomenon  because  he  did  not  feel  called  on  to  be  pleas 
ant  to  Em  Butterfield.  He  saw,  and  said  to  himself, 
that  she  was  handsome  ;  but  he  did  not  care  for  that 
style,  or  any  style,  for  that  matter.  He  was  not  after 
women.  The  only  charms  in  the  world  for  him  were 


230  A   PAPEB,   CITY. 

delicate,  rose-tinted  features,  with  pale  hair  in  large, 
coiling  fashion;  and  a  figure  light  and  gentle,  with  a 
clinging  grace,  that  looked  as  if  it  wanted  to  lean  on 
something.  But  the  only  woman  of  that  sort  for  him 
had  gone.  He  hated  the  sight  of  any  thing  like  her, 
because  he  loved  her  so  ;  and  he  despised  all  other 
women  for  not  being  like  her.  - 

But  cabbages  and  tomatoes  would  not  last  long ; 
and  he  came  back  with  his  ugly,  contemptuous  look 
on  his  face.  Emeline  was  reading  at  the  window,  and 
did  not  disturb  herself. 

"  You  must  have  an  interesting  book  to  keep  you 
in  such  an  evening,"  he  said,  not  over  politely,  the 
red  light  drifting  after  him  through  the  open  door. 

"  It  is,"  she  said,  shyly,  lifting  the  volume  so  that 
he  could  read  the  title. 

"  4  An  Arctic  Boat  Journey.'  Good  summer  read 
ing.  Keeps  ideas  cool.  I  thought  young  women  pre 
ferred  novels." 

"So  I  do,  unless  I  can  get  the  real  thing,  like 
this." 

"  The  real  thing  ?     I  don't  catch  your  meaning." 
"  The  interest  we  want  in  every  thing  and  find  in 
adventures  —  our  own  and  other  people's." 

"  Such  as  what  ?  I'd  like  to  know  what  you  find 
in  your  book  to  make  life  interesting." 

"  Isn't  it  pleasant,  here  in  the  sunshine  and  the 
flowers,  to  read  about  the  dead,  cold  night  at  the 
North,  c  the  hills  covered  with  snows  and  the  valleys 
filled  with  drift  "  '  (quoting  from  the  page),  "  'peaks 
of  snow  inland,  peaks  of  ice  out  at  sea,  and  the  still 
ness  ?  '  She  spoke  under  the  spell  of  the  description, 
and  her  voice  fell,  as  if  she  felt  the  awe  of  the  invio 
lable  silence. 


A   CELANCE  MEETING.  231 

"  Stillness  except  when  you  could  hear  the  ice  go 
off,  with  a  crack  like  a  cannon,"  he  said,  falling  into 
her  mood. 

She  looked  at  him,  delighted  at  being  understood  ; 
and  their  eyes  met  in  the  glance  of  an  interest  too 
genuine  for  blush  or  droop  of  eyelid. 

"  People  up  there  must  feel  as  if  they  were  in  an 
other  world  —  in  the  moon." 

"  Aren't  you  fanciful  ?  "  James  said,  rather  coldly, 
checking  this  flow  of  talk,  perversely. 

"  No  !  "  —  with  spirit.  "  Thinking  isn't  fancy  any 
more  than  floating  in  a  boat  is  rowing.  And,  if  it 
was,  is  it  wrong  to  fancy  ?  " 

"  In  a  world  where  you  can't  be  sure  of  fact,  you'd 
better  not  risk  any  thing  on  fancy,"  he  said,  gravely 
and  bitterly. 

It  sounded  pitiful  to  Emeline  that  any  one  should 
look  up  in  such  a  hopeful  world,  and  utter  such  intol 
erable  unbelief. 

She  remembered  the  man's  trouble,  heard  from  New 
Canton  gossips ;  and  she  was  silent  with  excess  of 
pity.  She  was  too  unused  to  find  any  turn  of  words 
to  express  it  indirectly ;  but,  as  Gardiner  half  turned 
to  see  why  she  did  not  answer,  he  caught  the  glance 
of  gentle,  compassionate  eyes,  as  they  turned,  fearful 
to  offend  by  sympathy. 

"  You  must  like  Jean  Ingelow's  ;  Off  the  Skelligs,' 
then,  if  you're  so  fond  of  Northern  scenes,"  he  said,  go 
ing  back  to  the  book.  "  I  can't  think  any  thing  hap 
pier  than  the  life  she  draws  —  in  a  yacht  over  the 
green  and  yellow  waters  of  melted  icebergs,  the  light 
and  air  and  the  islands  all  strange,  and  flocks  of 
white  wild-fowl  sitting  in  armieson  the  rocks  to  see 


232  A   PAPER  CITY. 

the  ship,  as  a  curious  spectacle.  You  never  read  it  ? 
My  mother  has  it,  and  1  dare  say  will  send  it  over  for 
Mrs.  Burt  and  you  to  read," — as  if  that  lady  ever 
opened  any  thing  further  than  the  leaves  of  her  Sun 
day  newspaper,  and  as  if  he  was  not  well  aware  of  the 
fact.  But,  disguise  it  ungraciously  as  he  would,  when 
Burt  came  up  the  walk  the  moment  of  recognition  and 
freshness  for  both  was  over.  Gardiner  carried  away 
vague,  piercing  scents  of  sweetbrier,  and  the  pleasant 
sweep  of  a  woman's  tresses  from  a  low,  pointed  brow  ; 
eyes  eager  and  untrained,  with  something  tender  and 
alive  looking  through  them  ;  a  voice  rapid  and  varied 
in  its  notes.  What  had  she  been  saying  ?  He  would 
hear  her  voice  once  more,  perhaps  know  its  owner 
further.  Here  endeth  the  first  lesson. 


ME.   BUET   DISPLAYS   GENIUS.  233 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

ME.   BTJET   DISPLAYS   GENIUS   AS   A  FINANCIEE. 

IT  is  no  small  matter  for  two  or  three  men  to  take 
a  bubble  from  a  wash-hand  basin,  and  blow  it  up 
to  the  size  of  a  church.  It  was  no  small  matter  for 
the  directors  of  the  land  company  to  get  the  people 
of  New  Canton  to  believe  that  they  were  rolling  in 
wealth  when  they  couldn't  pay  their  bills.  Fitzhugh, 
the  cobbler,  when  congratulated  by  Burt  upon  the 
holding  of  lots  which  would  make  him  a  rich  man, 
thought  that  perhaps,  by  and  by,  he  might  be  rich  ; 
but  lie  would  like  to  get  something  comfortable  out 
of  it  now.  Rich  as  he  was,  he  had  not  been  able  to 
exchange  his  short  black  pipe  for  a  fragrant  Havana  ; 
and  he  yet  depended  for  his  potations  upon  the  invi 
tations  of  reckless  men  in  the  saloons,  who  were  far 
enough  gone  to  ask  "  the  whole  house  up."  They 
might  all  be  rich ;  but  it  was  too  far  in  the  future  to 
suit  their  notions.  "  A  square  meal  on  the  table,"  quoth 
one  of  the  grumblers,  "  is  better  than  roast  turkey 
after  one  has  starved  to  death."  —  "  What  do  I  care 
for  lots  worth  ten  thousand  dollars  when  all  I  need  is 
a  burying-lot  ?  "  was  the  remark  of  another.  "  I'd 
rather  have  a  new  pair  of  boots  to-day." 

Peak  and  Sharp  wished  many  a  time,  that  they  had 


234  A  PAPER   CITY. 

not  put  their  names  to  an  enterprise  that  made  them 
unpopular  with  their  neighbors ;  but  Burt  and  Pep- 
pernell  kept  them  to  their  work.  The  four  were  in 
consultation  at  the  office,  when  a  new  move  came 
under  consideration. 

"It  won't  do,"  said  Capt.  Peak. 

"  I  quite  agree  with  Capt.  Peak,"  said  Esq.  Sharp. 

"  Gentlemen,  it  will  do  !  "  was  the  reply  of  Col. 
Peppernell.  "  To  develop  the  resources  of  this  glori 
ous  country,  especially  this  particular  part  of  it,  we 
must  have  capital.  Without  capital,  gentlemen,  of 
course  we  can  do  nothing.  We  want  to  sell  lots. 
The  boy  waiting  at  a  woodchuck  hole  was  asked  if  he 
'spected  to  catch  that  woodchuck.  '  Catch  it !  catch 
it !  Thunder  !  I've  got  to  catch  it !  The  preacher's 
coming  to-morrow,  and  we're  out  of  meat.'  We've 
got  to  catch  our  woodchuck,  for  we're  out  of  meat. 
What  is  the  use  of  waitiii'  on  our  woodchuck  till 
doomsday  ?  He  must  be  coaxed  out  of  his  hole,  and 
we'll  have  him,  first  time.  We  must  lay  out  sfreets, 
put  up  buildings  ;  we  must  show  there's  life  'n'  energy 
V  every  thing  in  the  way  of  progress  in  New  Canton. 
To  do  this  we  must  have  money.  We  can't  grade 
streets  'thout  money  ;  we  can't  plant  trees  —  not  so 
much  as  locust  thinnings  or  swamp-sycamore  —  'thout 
money.  Have  we  the  money  ?  If  you've  got  any, 
it's  more  than  I  have." 

The  two  smiled  in  a  ghastly  way,  as  if  the  farcical 
idea  needed  no  further  answer,  while  Mr.  Burt, 
pleased  at  the  Colonel's  oratory,  rubbed  his  hands 
softly,  and  smiled  deprecatingly,  as  though  not  to 
have  money  was  an  especial  grace  and  something  to 
be  proud  of. 


MR.    BTJRT   DISPLAYS    GENIUS.  235 

"  Very  well,"  continued  the  Colonel,  "  if  we  have 
not  the  money,  how  are  we  to  get  it  ?  From  Gardi 
ner  ?  We  have  all  he  can  spare  ;  and,  even  with  a 
savings-bank,  we  shall  need  all  that  we  can  get  out 
of  him  hereafter.  From  whom,  then  ?  From  them 
who're  to  git  the  benefit  —  New  Canton  people. 
They  share  in  the  profits,  and  ought  to  'sist  us,  par 
ticularly  as  it  won't  cost  them  any  thing.  Gentle 
men,  you  are  asses  to  object." 

"  My  worthy  friend,  Peppernell,"  broke  in  Mr. 
Burt,  with  his  blandest  smile  and  his  most  effective 
touch  on  the  arm  of  Capt.  Peak,  "  expresses  clearly, 
though  I  admit  with  some  warmth,  my  views  on  this 
important  matter.  This  savings-bank  is  a  scheme  to 
which  I  have  given  much  thought,  and  I  am  satisfied 
it  is  our  only  hope.  The  citizen  does  not  buy,  he 
does  not  display  that  eagerness  to  possess  himself  of 
New  Canton  real  estate  that  I  wished  and  hoped; 
and  he  must  be  impelled,  not  by  dragging  him,  but 
by  holding  a  turnip  before  his  nose.  Very  good. 
We  start  a  savings-bank  in  connection  with  the  land 
company." 

"  Where  is  the  capital  to  come  from  ?" 

"  My  dear  sir,  you  are  not  usually  obtuse  ;  but  you 
astonish  me  in  this.  The  depositors  furnish  the  capi 
tal.  We  shall  want  a  safe  and  a  set  of  books  and  a 
few  thousand  certificates ;  but  I  hope  the  credit  of 
the  New  Canton  Land  Company  is  sufficient  for  that. 
Once  in,  operation,  and  confidence  established,  —  con 
fidence  is  the  main  point,  —  the  people  pour  in  their 
money,  and  we  pay  interest  on  it.  We  shall  not  limit 
the  benefits  of  this  institution,  to  the  rich.  The  hum 
ble  possessor  of  a  five-cent  piece  will  be,  proportion- 


236  A   PAPER   CITY. 

ately,  as  welcome  in  front  of  our  counter,  as  a  depos 
itor,  as  the  princely  possessor  of  a  hundred  dollars. 
We  issue  our  certificates,  promising  to  pay  on  de 
mand  ;  and  —  " 

"  But,  when  they  send  them  in  for  payment,"  asked 
Capt.  Peak,  "  what  will  you  do  if  you  have  used  up 
the  money  ?  " 

"  We  shall  only  use  a  portion  of  it  in  that  way. 
We  shall  keep  a  reserve  on  hand  for  those  who  desire 
to  have  their  certificates  cashed  ;  and  there  will  be  no 
trouble  on  that  head.  But,  my  dear  sir,  procuring 
capital  for  our  own  uses  is  the  smallest  part  of  the 
profits  of  the  plan.  What  New  Canton  needs,  as 
my  friend  Peppernell  would  have  remarked  if  he 
had  given  his  mind  to  this  branch  of  the  subject,  is 
money." 

"  If  they  furnish  money  to  deposit,  and  we  give 
them  certificates  they  can  call  in  any  time,  how  do 
we  increase  capital  ? "  growled  Capt.  Peak,  impa 
tiently. 

"  My  dear  sir,  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  capital 
here  ^millions — locked  up  for  want  of  something  to 
move  it.  New  Canton  needs  a  tonic  ;  its  financial 
system  needs  stimulating.  Our  land  has  cost  us  ten 
dollars  an  acre.  It  really  represents,  as  we  believe, 
$1,000  an  acre  ;  and,  if  money  were  plenty  enough, 
it  would  bring  that  immediately.  It  is  our  duty  to 
enrich  the  cit}^,  by  making  it  worth  that ;  and  it  is 
worth  that  as  soon  as  people  will  pay  that  for  it.  We 
issue  our  certificates,  ^—  we  buy  horses  with  them,  — 
we  pay  more  than  any  one  else  will  pay  in  any  other 
money,  —  we  pay  say  $100  for  a  horse  that  we  sell 
for  $50,  —  we  are  getting  rich." 


MR.    BURT   DISPLAYS   GENIUS.  237 

"  How  !  Haven't  we  lost  850  ?  " 
"  Not  if  we  take  up  that  certificate  by  selling  a  lot 
for  $100  that  cost  us  exactly  fifty  cents.  When 
enough  of  our  certificates  are  in  circulation,  and 
every  man  has  his  pocket  full  of  them,  they  wiU  buy 
lots;  trade  will  revive;  men  will  speculate,  for  they 
will  have  something  to  speculate  with.  When  we 
pay  $100  for  a  $50  horse,  we  have  conferred  a  benefit 
on  New  Canton  ;  for  we  have  doubled  its  capital.  If 
the  man  is  to  be  honored,  who  makes  two  spears  of 
grass  grow  where  one  grew  before,  what  applause 
shall  we  give  him  who  makes  two  dollars  exist  where 
there  wasn't  any  before?  Our  certificates  will  be 
convertible.  We  will  permit  the  holders  to  convert 
them  into  lots  as  quickly  as  they  please  ;  and  they 
will  be  especially  pleased  to  do  so,  if  they  see  any 
thing  in  the  shape  of  bank-bills  in  the  transaction." 

Capt.  Peak   and   Esq.  Sharp   saw   the  point,  and 
yielded  assent. 

"  Thank  you,  gentlemen ;  and,  when  a  thing  is  to 
be  done,  it  can'%t  be  done  too  quickly.  The  building 
we  are  in  will  do.  No  :  appearances  are  every  thing; 
we  will  put  up  a  new  one.  It  will  be  inexpensive  \ 
but  it  shall  be  so  constructed  as  to  inspire  confidence, 
t  shall  be  painted,  and  the  ceilings  inside  frescoed. 
We  will  have,  for  the  purpose  of  inspiring  confidence 
in  the  minds  of  the  populace,  the  board-room  in  front  ; 
and'  -here  he  paused,  and  surveyed  Col.  Pepper- 
ncll's  flaming  face  —  "  no  ;  on  second  thought,  we 
will  have  the  board-room  in  the  rear  and  the  cashier's 
office  in  front.  I  will  sit  there,  and  inspire  confi 
dence.  I  will  send  the  papers  off  to-night,  for  the 
incorporation  ;  and  we'll  get  to  work  immediately." 


238  A  PAPER   CITY. 

This  accomplished,  the  next  point  was  organization. 
Mr.  Burt  desired  very  much  that  Mr.  Gardiner  should 
join  them,  in  the  enterprise,  and  be  president  of  the 
new  bank  ;  but  he  had  sounded  that  gentleman,  who 
had  declined  to  do  any  thing,  on  the  score  that  it 
might  possibly  injure  his  own  business.  Mr.  Burt 
did  not  press  the  matter ;  for  he  had  reasons  of  his 
own  for  not  desiring  trouble  to  befall  Mr.  Gardiner's 
bank  just  then.  So  Burt,  Peppernell,  Peak,  Sharp, 
and  an  outside  man,  Simmons,  who  was  supposed  to 
be  responsible,  made  up  the  directory,  with  Pepper 
nell  as  president  and  Burt  as  secretary  and  treas 
urer. 

"  It  is  a  strong  combination,"  said  Mr.  Burt ;  "  and 
results  will  come  from  it.  Simmons  is  a  man  whose 
voice  should  have  weight  in  any  financial  institu 
tion." 

The  papers  were  sent  off  the  very  next  mail,  and 
the  buildings  were  planned  and  contracted  for  im 
mediately. 

The  moment  the  papers  of  incorporation  arrived, 
Mr.  Burt  ordered  a  book  of  certificates  of  deposit 
printed,  and  was  particular  about  them.  He  had 
them  printed  in  three  colors,  with  the  vignette  of  a 
dog  guarding  a  safe,  on  the  left  end,  and  the  legend, 
"Savings-bank  of  New  Canton,"  prominently  and 
handsomely  ^displayed ,  with  appropriate  and  proper 
places  for  the  signatures  of  the  president  and  secre 
tary  and  treasurer  of  the  company. 

He  was  very  particular  about  having  the  certificates 
done  in  three  colors  r  and  he  lamented  that  he  could 
not  have  the  vignette  of  the  dog  and  safe  printed  in 
three  colors  also.  "  If  that  dog  was  printed  in  three 


Mtt.    BTJKT   DISPLAYS   GENIUS.  239 

colors,  with  the  expression  of  absolute  watchfulness 
there  is  in  his  face,  no  man  could  see  it  and  refuse  to 
take  a  certificate.  If  his  judgment  said  No,  the  ex 
pression  of  the  dog  and  the  colors  would  dazzle  him." 

As  the  book  was  handed  in,  he  remarked  to  his 
fellow  directors  :  "  There  isn't  a  sounder  looking  cer 
tificate  than  that  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  Mr.  Gib 
son,"  -to  the  printer, —  "I  congratulate  you  on 
your  skill.  You  have  hit  the  happy  medium  —  rich 
ness  without  vulgarity,  solvency  without  pretentious 
ness.  Your  bill  ?  Very  good.  The  man  who  would 
refuse  to  accept  one  these  certificates  —  in  three  col 
ors—has  no  confidence  in  the  future  of  the  country." 

While  saying  this,  he  was  filling  out  one  of  the 
documents,  which  read  :  — 

"This  certifies,  that  R.  C.  Gibson,  Esq.,  has  de 
posited,  m  the  Savings-bank  of  New  Canton,  thirteen 
dollars,  on  which  interest,  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent, 
per  annum,  will  be  paid,  if  allowed  to  remain  for  six 
months. 

"  JAS.  SIMMONS,  Pres't. 
"  CHARLES  BUKT,  Sec'y  and  Treas." 

This  he  handed  to  Gibson,  asking  him  to  receipt  his 
bill. 

"  What's  this  ? "  asked  Gibson,  somewhat  aston 
ished. 

'  You   have  deposited  with  us  thirteen  dollars  — 

t  absolute  money,  but  paper,  ink,  labor,  and  skill, 

which  represents  money.      Any  time  you  desire   to 

draw  your  deposit,  present  it  at  this  counter,  and  it 

be  paid  to  you,  in  any  other  kind  of  money  you 

desire.     But  you  won't  want  to  draw  it.     It  is  money 

—  better  than  any  other  kind  ;  for,  while  it  is  as  safe 


240  A   PAPER   CITY. 

as  any,  it  is  earning  interest,  which  other  kinds  do 
not.  You  will  be  able  to  use  it  in  your  business. 
Pay  it  to  your  grocer;  he  will  pay  it  to  his  shoe 
maker  ;  the  shoemaker  will  pay  it  to  his  tanner ;  his 
tanner,  if  he  is  a  dissolute  man,  —  which,  in  the  in 
terest  of  morality  and  virtue,  let  us  hope  he  is  not, 

will  pay  to  the  bar  he  poisons  his  body  and  ruins  his 
mind  at ;  the  whisky-seller  will  pay  it  to  his  distiller ; 
the  distiller  will  pay  it  to  the  farmer,  for  the  corn  he 
uses  in  his  nefarious  pursuit ;  and  the  farmer  will  pay 
his  yearly  contribution  to  his  church  with  it :  and  so 
it  will  go  on  one  unceasing,  never-ending  round  of 
doing  good,  with  a  train  of  blessings  following  it  at 
every  step.  Possibly,  it  may  come  back  to  us  for 
lots,  and,  if  so,  we  shall  unhesitatingly  take  it.  We 
may  be  doing  the  community  an  injury  by  receiving 
it  and  retiring  it,  because  by  just  that  amount  we  are 
contracting  the  circulating  medium  on  which  it  is  do 
ing  business  ;  but  we  are  all  selfish.  Every  man 
must  take  care  of  himself;  and  land  companies  are 
no  exception  to  the  general  rule ;  for  land  companies 
are  only  aggregations  of  men  for  a  specific  purpose." 

Stunned  and  dazzled  by  this  flow  of  oratory,  the 
meek  Gibson  took  it,  and  went  his  way ;  and  the  di 
rectors  were  delighted,  for  they  had  each  expected  to 
be  called  upon  to  contribute  his  share  to  pay  for  the 
book. 

Mr.  Burt  went  to  the  office  of  the  "  Forum,"  and 
had  a  long  interview  with  the  incorruptible  editor  of 
that  paper.  He  reminded  him,  that,  so  far,  all  the 
printing  for  the  company  had  been  done  in  his  office, 
and  that  henceforth  the  most  of  it  would  be,  —  that 
such  an  enterprise  would  double  the  population  of  the 


MB.   BTJRT   DISPLAYS    GENIUS.  241 

town,  in  no  time,  and  would  bring  no  end  of  business 
to  the  place,  all  of  which  would  make  newspaper 
property  worth  its  weight  in  gold ;  and  how  could  a 
newspaper  serve  itself  better  than  to  build  up  its  own 
patronage?  And  Mr.  Burt  left  the  incorruptible 
with  contracts  for  half  a  dozen  lots,  on  various  streets. 
"  My  dear  sir,"  he  remarked,  at  parting,  "  when  the 
land  company  and  the  savings-bank  are  accepted  as 
facts  and  regarded  as  they  should  be,  those  lots  will 
be  worth  $1,000  each.  You  can  help  yourself  to 
$10,000  by  helping  these  two  enterprises.  Good- 
morning.  I  don't  want  to  influence  you,  but  I  am 
working  for  the  general  good." 

From  the  "New  Canton  Forum." 

"  We  are  happy  to  announce,  that  the  savings-bank 
inaugurated  a  week  since  by  Messrs.  Burt,  Pepper- 
nell,  Sharp,  Peak,  and  Simmons  is  now  in  successful 
operation,  and  is  receiving  deposits  and  issuing  cer 
tificates.  Such  an  institution  has  long  been  needed 
in  the  town  ;  indeed,  in  our  present  condition  of  rapid 
development,  it  is  an  absolute  necessity.  The  di 
rectors  (the  same  gentlemen  who  compose  the  land 
company)  have  determined  to  manage  it  in  the  inter 
est  of  the  city,  rather  than  their  own,  and,  to  that 
end,  will  pay  the  highest  rate  of  interest  possible  ;  — 
namely,  ten  per  cent.;  —  and,  that  its  benefits  may 
be  as  widely  diffused  as  possible,  the  humble  laborer, 
with  his  ten  cents,  will  be  as  welcome  as  the  richest 
owner  of  New  Canton  real  estate.  The  names  of  the 
directors  are  the  best  guaranty  of  its  management  on 
the  best  business  principles ;  and  people  do  not  need 
to  be  assured  that  the  interests  of  depositors  will  not 
suffer  for  want  of  sagacity  and  fair  dealing.  The  safe 
arrived  yesterday.  It  is  the  largest  ever  brought  to 
New  Canton,  and  marks  an  era  in  the  growth  of  our 
city.  The  open  doors  are  beautifully  ornamented  with 

16 


242  A  PAPER   CITY. 

the  vignette  on  the  bank's  certificates,  —  which  were 
printed  at  the  "Forum"  office,  — a  dog  guarding  a 
safe.  The  deposits  the  first  day  were  over  two  thou 
sand  dollars ;  and  the  office  was  kept  open  till  after 
eight  last  night  to  accommodate  those  who  could  not 
come  earlier.  Mr.  Burt  says  he  will  keep  it  open  till 
midnight  rather  than  any  should  be  disappointed. 
Such  men  are  a  credit  to  any  city  ;  they  make  cities." 
When  the  bill  for  lumber,  stone,  plastering,  shin 
gling,  painting,  and  finishing  the  building  came  in, 
they  were  all  paid  the  same  way ;  and  people  accepted 
them  in  payment  unhesitatingly.  So,  in  getting  the 
bank  started,  an  amount  of  its  paper  got  into  circula 
tion,  enough  to  get  people  used  to  the  sight  of  it  and 
accustomed  to  handling  it. 

Once  in  possession  of  the  means  of  paying  for  labor 
and  material,  Mr.  Burt  was  not  idle.  Streets  through 
the  various  plats  were  graded  at  once,  trees  planted 
by  the  thousand,  and  excavations  were  commenced 
immediately,  for  a  score  or  more  of  buildings,  in  vari 
ous  parts  of  the  city. 

The  uses  for  money  increased ;  but  Mr.  Burt  was 
equal  to  the  emergency.  He  issued  certificates  spar 
ingly  ;  that  is,  he  exacted  full  money  value  for  every 
one  of  them  ;  but  they  went  out.  "  When  writing 
one's  name  will  do  for  money,"  was  his  remark,  "  why 
shouldn't  New  Canton  have  all  the  capital  it  needs  ? 
It  is  arduous  labor;  but,  in  view  of  the  necessities 
of  the  town,  I  will  do  it  if  I  die  at  my  post." 

The  next  thing  was  to  get  others  to  build.  There 
were  people  living  in  rented  houses,  who  wanted,  as 
all  men  do,  to  own  their  own  property ;  and  Mr.  Burt 
made  the  way  easy  for  them.  He  would  sell  them  a 
lot  at  $150,  they  paying  down  say  fifty  dollars,  and 


ME.    BURT   DISPLAYS    GENIUS.  243 

giving  a  mortgage  for  the  balance.  Then,  he  would 
advance  them  money ;  —  that  is,  his  money,  which,  as  it 
was  current  in  New  Canton,  was  as  good  as  any  other  ; 
-  enough  for  them  to  put  up  a  dwelling,  generally 
enough  to  finish  rooms  to  live  in,  taking  a  mortgage 
for  the  whole  at  ten  per  cent.,  with  clauses  in  the 
mortgages  which  enabled  the  land  company  and  the 
savings-bank  to  keep  a  saving  hold  on  the  property 
and  do  with  it  as  they  pleased. 

The  effect  was  miraculous.  The  poor  of  the  town 
made  haste  to  obtain  homes  on  such  easy  and  certain 
terms.  Mr.  Burt  prepared  elaborate  tables,  showing 
that  the  saving  of  ten  cents  a  day  would  do  so  much, 
and  a  saving  of  twenty  cents  a  day  would  do  so  much, 
and  that,  with  the  help  of  the  credit  of  the  land  com 
pany  and  the  savings-bank,  there  was  no  trouble  about 
building  homes  at  all.  He  demonstrated,  that  the 
workingman  could  get  him  a  home  by  cutting  off  his 
pipe,  by  cutting  off  his  glass  of  beer,  by  cutting  off  a 
meal  a  day;  and  by  doing  any  one  of  a  thousand 
things  which  men  never  did  nor  never  will  do  to  the 
end  of  time.  Beyond  all,  it  was  demonstrated  that 
the  land  company  and  savings-bank  had  just  one  mis 
sion,  and  that  was  to  save  the  laboring  man  from  the 
cancer  —  rent.  But  he  omitted  to  mention,  that, 
while  avoiding  the  Scylla  of  rent,  they  went  bump 
ing  on  the  equally  fatal  Charybdis  of  interest,  —  an 
omission  which  public  benefactors  often  make. 

Not  only  the  people  of  New  Canton  were  firm  con 
verts  to  the  theory,  that  something  could  be  made  out 
of  nothing,  but  they  came  in  from  neighboring  towns 
and  from  other  counties  to  try  the  experiment.  Long 
rows  of  cottages  were  built  or  begun;  mechanics  came 


244  A   PAPER   CITY. 

to  town,  and  settled ;  operators  started  business  ;  and 
the  wonderful  growth  of  New  Canton  filled  the  air 
from  Chicago  to  the  Mississippi. 

Farmers  got  an  advanced  price  for  their  products, 
taking  pay  in  certificates,  which  they  held  "  as  good  as 
any  money ;  "  Burt  and  Peppernell  starting  a  ware 
house  for  the  purchase  of  the  same,  and  did  an  im 
mense  business.  Merchants  took  the  certificates  for 
goods,  exacting  an  additional  profit,  which  was  will 
ingly  paid;  for  prosperity -breeds  carelessness. 

The  corporators  were  troubled,  and  were  frequently 
in  counsel.  That  is,  Peppernell,  Peak,  and  Sharp 
were  troubled  ;  Burt,  never. 

"How  long  can  we  stand  it?"  was  Peppernell's 
first  question  at  these  conferences. 

"  Stand  it  till  they  get  to  buying  lots  freely,  and 
money,  actual  money,  comes  in  from  abroad.  The 
pot  don't  boil  enough  yet ;  for  there  isn't  enough  of 
our  certificates  in  circulation." 

"How  much  money  have  we  in  the  safe  ?  " 
"  About  fourteen  dollars." 
"  How  much  of  our  paper  is  out  ?  " 
"  Only  forty-three    thousand   dollars.      But  never 
fear.      I  can  always  get  five  or  ten  thousand   from 
Gardiner,  for  the  use  of  the  land  company;  for  he 
likes  this  new  activity,  and  is  pushing  it  on.      We 
shall  have  a  good  day  Monday  for  deposits ;  and  we 
shall  get  returns  Tuesday  from  the  last  shipment  of 
wheat  to  Chicago.      You  must  turn  off  what  horses 
and  cattle  you  have  on  hand,  at  whatever  you  can  get 
for  them,  and  see  that  you  are  not  paid  in  our  money. 
Peppernell,  the  last  sale  you  made  you  were  compelled 
to  take  some  of  the  very  certificates  you  gave  for  the 
stock.     That  won't  do." 


MR.   BUKT  DISPLAYS    GENIUS.  245 

The  pot  was  boiling,  nevertheless,  but  not  as  fast 
as  the  industrious  Burt  desired.  He  was  busy  pour 
ing  oil  under  it;  for  no  pot  could  boil  too  fast  for 
him. 

New  Canton  was  at  last  growing,  and  citizens  and 
strangers  could  see  evidences  of  it.  Did  a  man  doubt, 
he  was  shown  the  long  rows  of  cottages.  The  stranger 
was  shown  first,  the  maps  ;  he  was  taken  to  Soggy  Run, 
and  shown  where  the  levees  were  to  be  ;  and  then  he 
was  triumphantly  shown  the  buildings  actually  fin 
ished  and  the  score  that  were  in  process  of  erection. 
Who  could  doubt  all  these  evidences?  And,  when, 
after  an  examination  of  the  real,  he  was  brought  back 
to  the  ideal,  and  was  left  in  company  with  the  maps 
arid  pamphlets,  if  he  did  not  invest,  he  was  set  down 
as  worse  than  an  infidel. 

Mr.  Burt  got  another  idea,  which  he  improved  at 
once.  Within  a  week,  the  papers  published  in  the 
money-lending  portions  of  the  East  contained  adver 
tisements  of  "  Chas.  Burt,  agent  for  negotiating  loans 
on  Illinois  real  estate  ; "  and  he  gave  as  his  reference 
the  "  Savings-bank  of  New  Canton. "  Who  could  re 
fuse  to  entrust  money  in  his  hands,  with  so  respect 
able  a  reference  ?  Mr.  Burt  did  a  very  nice  business 
in  placing  loans  for  Eastern  investors. 


246  A  PAPER  CITY. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE   NEW  OF  THE   MOON". 

IT  is  regretted  that  the  course  of  events  compels  me 
to  introduce  Mr.  Burt  under  the  prosaic  condi 
tions  of  a  bilious  attack.  He  came  home  from  Chi 
cago  frequently  with  one  of  these  disorders,  which 
Mrs.  Burt  attributed  to  the  deleterious  character  of 
hotel  cooking  and  the  want  of  plain  home  fare. 
Burt's  sypathizing  friends  gathered  round  him  to  al 
leviate  the  tedium  of  these  attacks.  Peppernell  came 
over  to  heave  Johnsonian  English,  with  occasional 
slips  into  slang.  Old  Gardiner  sent  over  the  religious 
weeklies  for  him,  which  Mrs.  Burt  read  aloud,  yawn 
ing  over  the  editorials  and  shying  at  hard  names,  till 
it  was  found  that  Emeline  could  get  through  the  pa 
pers  without  getting  a  headache  or  allowing  the  house 
keeping  to  suffer,  in  her  magical  administration. 

It  was  the  third  day  of  the  attack.  Mrs.  Burt  did 
not  deem  it  prudent  to  let  her  husband  out  of  her 
sight  just  yet ;  and  he  was  submitting  to  a  day  of 
house-petting  with  a  meekness  which  was  an  example 
to  all  spouses  similarly  situated. 

The  odor  of  boneset  tea  was  banished  from  the 
room  ;  and,  unknown  to  Mrs.  Burt,  the  window  was 
down  at  the  top  all  of  three  inches,  letting  the  sweet 


THE  NEW   OF  THE  MOON.  247 

spring  air  wander  gently  around  the  room,  instead  of 
the  close  smell  which  she  considered  the  proper  thing 
for  a  sick-room.     A  nice  hand  betrayed  itself  in  the 
raising  of  a  curtain  to  let  in  a  half-light,  —  in  the  array 
of  a  table  covered  with  work  and  newspapers,  pre 
sided  over  by  a  vase  of  roses,  dark  red  and  rich,  which 
lent  their  odor  and  grace  to  the  room.      Burt  lay  on 
the  lounge,  the  only  sign  of  illness  about  him  a  slight 
pallor  from  staying  indoors  three  days,  and  a  plaster 
of  vinegar  and  brown  paper  on  his  forehead,  which 
Mrs.  Burt  made  haste  to  apply  for  symptoms  of  ner 
vous  headache  on  her  offering  to  read  from  the  county 
paper.     Emeline,  finding  this  a  frequent  prescription 
in  the  household,  had  won  largely  on  Mrs.  Burt's  es 
teem  and  Burt's  gratitude  by  inventing  an  aromatic 
vinegar  for  medical  use,  fragant  with  herbs  and  oils, 
which  lessened  the  infliction.     Erneline  had  taken  up 
her  task  of  reading  for  the  day  ;  while  Mrs.  Burt,  in 
her  white  invalid  shawl,  crocheted  pink   and   white 
wools.     A  pretty  domestic  scene  it  made,  as  Pepper- 
nell  remarked,  on  his  way  down-town. 

"  If  I  haven't  a  good  mind  to  take  off  my  frills,  and 
give  out  for  sick,  and  be  petted  myself.  Would,  if  I 
could  get  such  coddling.  My  folks  never  would^  in 
dulge  me  that  way.  They'd  send  for  Borax  first  thing, 
and  he'd  pour  a  dose  of  quinine  down,  and  have  mus 
tard  plaster  where  it  would  tell  the  most,  and  lay  me 
up  for  a  fortnight,  with  the  Masons  coming  to  watch 
—  ugh  I  And  it  would  take  all  I  could  earn  for  an 
other  six  months  to  pay  the  bill.  But  you,  with  your 
devoted  wife  to  attend  you,  instead  of  hireling  medi 
cal  aid,  and  the  resources  of  our  charming  —  hem  !• 
(as  a  glance  from  Burt's  warning  eye  put  the  Colonel 


248  A   PAPEE   CITY. 

off  the  track  an  instant)  —  "  charming  season  to 
make  your  illness  tolerable,  it  has  its  compensations. 
Bless  me  ! "  said  the  Colonel,  relapsing  into  calm  sin 
cerity,  "  if  I  wouldn't  stand  being  pilled  and  blistered 
for  the  sake  of  gettin'  such  tendin'." 

"  Gardiner  was  going  to  send  over  some  papers, 
wasn't  he  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Burt,  in  a  half-hour  or  so. 
"  James  said  last  night  he  would  bring  them  over  for 
you,  and  his  mother's  4  Review  '  for  me.  How  much 
that  boy  has  improved.  He's  growing  such  a  thought 
ful  young  man,  so  kind  to  his  friends ;  just  like  you 
used  to  be,  Charles,  before  we  were  married." 

The  amiable  Burt  did  not  look  flattered  by  the 
reminiscence.  "  Likely  as  not  he'll  forget  all  about 
it.  Nice  enough  young  man,  but  feather-headed." 

Speak  of  the  sun  and  it  shines.  A  ringing  foot 
came  down  the  plank-walk  to  the  gate. 

"  Coming  again,"  thought  the  young  housekeeper, 
as  she  heard  it.  "  He  was  here  Monday,  and  yester 
day  evening,  and  now  to-day  again.  I  shall  see  his 
face,  and  have  a  bright  word.  How  nice  to  have  any 
body  like  to  come  so  often." 

Burt  took  a  little  side  observation  of  Emeline,  as 
the  tall  figure  came  up  the  walk  but  her  eyes  were 
on  her  sewing,  and  neither  smile  nor  blush  rose  on  her 
face  as  Mrs.  Burt  motioned  her  to  the  door  when  the 
bell  rang.  Astute  Burt,  how  came  you  to  feel  so  sat 
isfied  that  the  girl  had  heard  those  footsteps  half  a 
square  away,  and  that  her  firm  lips  and  steady  eyes 
concealed  content  that  needed  neither  smile  nor  sign  ? 
She  put  down  her  sewing,  and  moved  away  with  her 
usual  promptness ;  but  the  entry  found  time  enough 
for  her  face  to  bloom  into  warm,  frank  pleasure  before 


THE   NEW   OF  THE   MOON.  249 

she  opened  the  door,  and  met  a  glance  as  kind  and 
unconstrained. 

"  Are  we  able  to  see  visitors  this  morning  ?  "  he 
asked,  with  mock  gravity  and  concern. 

"  Only  on  errands  of  necessity  and  mercy,"  was  the 
answer  sent,  with  a  face  as  grave  as  his  own,  and 
eyes  of  solemn  mischief. 

"  Then  I  may  rush  in  where  my  betters  fear  to 
tread.  Is  there  boneset  to-day  ?  " 

"  Another  step  and  you  will  know  all  about  it,  with 
out  asking.  It  is  double  strength  to-day." 

"  Unkind  I  "  he  said,  under  his  breath,  following  her 
to  the  sitting-room,  "  when  you  knew  I  was  coming. 
Couldn't  you  get  it  out  of  the  way,  for  once?  Peo 
ple  say  you  have  things  pretty  much  after  your  own 
notion  in  this  house." 

He  expected  she  would  take  this  as  a  tribute,  but 
she  looked  no  pleasure  at  it.  They  were  at  the  door 
of  the  sitting-room ;  and  there  was  but  time  for  her  to 
"justify  "  her  face,  as  printers  would  say,  and  put  on 
the  unmoved  look  with  which  she  met  all  events. 

"  She  mi^ht  have  been  a  second  or  two  sooner," 
Burt  thought,  on  his  lounge,  and  turned  his  head  to 
see  the  two  enter  —  twin  youth,  strength  and  beauty. 

He  was  tall  and  fresh  as  a  young  ash  ;  the  girl  who 
came  after  him,  full  of  warm  bloom  as  a  maple  flow 
ering  in  April,  and  lissome  as  the  young  cat  stretch 
ing  velvet  paws  by  the  lily-beds  in  the  sunshine.  He 
wore  the  air  of  negligent  style  that  became  him  ;  his 
rough  morning- coat  setting  loosely  on  his  fine  figure, 
with  line  white  cuffs,  and  heavy  gold  buttons  at  the 
wrists  of  his  shapely  and  well-kept  hands. 

She  was  purely  neat  and  homely  in  her  brown  print 


250  A  TAPER   CITY. 

dress,  sweet  with  the  lithe  form  it  held,  the  white  col 
lar  and  scarlet  bow  against  the  creamy  throat,  and 
dark  waving  hair,  put  back  with  most  evident  inten 
tion  to  get  it  out  of  the  way,  but  all  the  more  becom 
ing  for  that. 

Burt  was  getting  better  fast  ?  Yes.  Would  look 
at  the  papers  when  he  could  get  the  letters  off  his 
hands,  which  he  must  have  written  first.  Thanks  ! 
He  would  not  be  obliged  to  trespass  on  Mr.  Gardiner's 
kind  offer  to  write  for  him.  Mrs.  Burt  would  do  all 
that  was  necessary. 

"  Anxious  to  get  me  out  of  the  house,"  thought 
James,  nettled  by  finding  his  overtures  treated  so 
coolly.  But  a  glance  from  eyes  of  infinite  mischief, 
out  of  Burt's  range,  confirmed  his  inclination  to  stay 
without  encouragement ;  and  he  proceeded  to  make 
himself  agreeable. 

Never  did  invited  visitor  prove  more  agreeable  to 
his  host  than  James  Gardiner  then.  He  inquired  with 
enthusiasm  for  the  latest  news,  and,  finding  Mrs.  Burt 
meagerly  furnished,  he  proceeded  to  manufacture, 
guess,  and  rehearse  the  most  extraordinary  gossip  ever 
unrolled  in  one  short  hour.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fitzhugh 
were  not  as  loving  as  they  might  be,  everybody  was 
aware ;  owing  to  lofty  views  on  the  part  of  the  lady, 
and  a  chronic  inability  to  make  a  living  on  that  of 
her  husband.  This  was  not  such  an  uncommon  griev 
ance  among  New  Canton  matrons  as  to  arouse  much 
interest  when  alluded  to.  But,  when  James  made  out 
that  Mrs.  Fitzhugh  was  meditating  a  divorce,  and  had 
written  to  her  sister-in-law  asking  advice ;  and  it  was 
certain  that  a  separation,  at  least,  would  have  been  a 
fixed  fact  long  ago,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  chil- 


THE  NEW   OF  THE  MOON.  251 

dren  ;  and  that  Mrs.  Fitzhugh  had  her  views  on  Pep- 
pernell,  if  she  was  free  when  his  wife  died,— here  was 
matter  to  secure  the  narrator  joyful  entrance  to  any 
hearth  in  New  Canton. 

James,  finding  these  figments  well  received  by  both 
his  auditors  in  chief,— Burt  forgetting  even  the  satiri 
cal  version  of  Watts,  in  his  amusement  at  such  lively 
scandal,  —  let  his  imagination  loose.     He  knew  every 
thing.     He  hinted  at  clandestine  correspondence  be 
tween  the  leading  soprano  in  church  and  a  young  Chi 
cago  business  man.     He  knew  that  Miss  Ashton  and 
the  Deacon  were  going  to  be  married,  and  that  Miss 
Ashton  was  going  to  wear  white  silk,  with  a  demi- 
train,  and  lace-veil,  and  that  she  had  written  to  Flor 
ida  for  real  orange  blossoms.     Oscar  Hewitt,  who  had 
run  away  from  his  father  two  years  before,  was  doing 
well  in  Omaha,  and  was  going  to  set  up  for  himself, 
and   come  back  and  marry  Katy  Rice.     He  told  of 
Mrs.  Sam  Livingston's  going  off  in  the  middle  of  a 
snowy  night  last  winter,  to  her  father's,  when  Sam 
came  home  late,  and  could  give  no  good  account  of 
himself,    which,  as   it  was  an  unlooked-for  piece  of 
scandal,  made  him  as  welcome  as  any  piece  of  human 
ity  on  which  Mrs.  Burt  had  set  her  eyes  for  six  weeks. 
His  news  was  conveyed  in  a  masterly  style,  without 
effort   or   hurry,  not   gabbled   or  poured  forth,  like 
those  injudicious  gossips  who  shell  out  all  they  have 
to  tell  and  are  thrown  away  as  husks  immediately. 
Mrs.  Burt  was  soothed   and   edified    by  the  recital. 
As  a  finishing  stroke,  his  invention  giving  out,  James 
next  besought  Mrs.  Burt  to  draw  near  while  he  pointed 
out  the  devices  which  struck  his  taste  favorably  in  a 
fashion  paper,  and  was  soon  delivering  an  animated 
lecture  on  dress. 


252  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  Why  can't  women  alwaj^s  wear  something  pretty, 
like  this?"  said  the  courtier,  taking  up  a  corner  of 
the  lady's  white  Shetland  shawl  between  finger  and 
thumb.  "  They  haven't  the  taste  to  choose  it,"  he 
added,  with  ardor. 

The  effect  on  Mrs.  Burt  was  judicious  ;  and  as  a 
mark  of  favor,  she  soon  after  invited  James  out  to 
take  a  walk  in  the  garden  to  see  Mr.  Burt's  flourish 
ing  cauliflowers  and  give  the  family  name  of  a  new 
striped  bug  that  had  appeared  on  the  cucumbers. 
Their  way  took  them  through  the  kitchen,  sunny,  and 
sweet,  where  Emeline  was  getting  up  dinner.  The 
morning  saw  the  audacious  James  familiar  with  the 
Burt  lettuce,  border,  flower-beds,  and  grape-vines, 
playing  the  attentive  gallant  to  Mrs.  Burt,  drawing 
her  shawl  about  her  shoulders,  holding  the  tomato- 
vines  back  from  her  dress,  and  going  so  far  as  to 
gather  a  spray  of  morning-glories,  and  offer  them  for 
her  bosom,  a  devoir  to  which  she  responded  by  pluck 
ing  for  his  buttonhole  next  to  the  prettiest  rosebud  on 
her  bushes.  She  might  want  the  very  best  one  her 
self,  or  somebody  of  more  consequence.  Mrs.  Burt 
was  thrifty  even  in  rosebuds. 

It  was  compensation  for  a  walk  through  a  kitchen- 
garden  with  a  woman  who  wore  curls  and  prosed,  to 
catch  the  sight  of  a  drooping  dark  head,  rich  with 
scarlet  in  lips  and  cheeks,  against  a  window-screen  of 
blue  and  white  morning-glory.  James  felt,  for  once, 
that  he  should  like  to  put  that  lovely  play  of  color  on 
canvas,  and  found  chance  to  loiter  near  the  window, 
while  Mrs.  Burt  was  hunting  a  plant  to  send  his 
mother. 

"  Were  you  looking  for  any  thing  last  night,  when 


THE  NEW   OF  THE   MOOX.  253 

you  took  your  walks  abroad,  or  only  waiting  for  it  to 
come  to  you  ?  " 

She  looked  puzzled  at  this  style  of  questioning. 
"  You  were  going  down  the  Creek  Road,  dawdling 
along,  half  by  moonlight,  half  by  the  light  on  the  wa 
ter,  as  leisurely  as  if  you  had  got  done  with  this  life 
and  was  waiting  for  the  next." 

"  I  was  done  with  this  world  for  one  night,"  she 
said,  with  an  undertone  of  mockery,  catching  his  tone. 
44  The  last  stitch  was  taken,  and  there  wasn't  a  straw 
out  of  place  about  the  house.  I  could  have  gone  to 
Heaven,  and  nobody  would  have  missed  me." 

"  You  should  choose  company  on  your  walks.  Or 
do  you  find  yourself  such  excellent  company  it  spoils 
you  for  any  other  ? " 

"  I'm  not  particular.  We  like  change,  you  know, 
if  it  isn't  for  the  better.  Thank  you  for  the  hint. 
I'll  borrow  Mrs.  Strong's  Archie  the  next  time  I  go 
after  Moses  to  whitewash.  That  was  what  I  was 
dawdling  after  down  the  river-road." 

"  Do  you  often  go  for  Black  Moses  of  an  evening?  " 

"  I  go  for  him  of  an  evening  when  I  do  go,  because 
we're  all  of  more  of  a  color  then,  you  see,  and  the 
difference  don't  hurt  his  feelings.  But,  as  a  rule,  we 
only  whitewash  spring  and  fall." 

"  Ah !  Then  I  needn't  expect  to  find  you  going 
that  way  again  for  five  months  ?  May  I  ask  where 
you  take  your  walks  the  rest  of  the  time  ?  " 

"  Where  I'm  least  likely  to  meet  anybody,"  she 
said,  demurely,  rising  to  put  the  fruit  to  stew  she  had 
been  picking. 

The  next  moment  Mrs.  Burt's  skirt  swept  the  late 
dew  off  the  border  where  the  young  man  stood. 


254 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


"  Thanks  !     Mrs.  Gardiner  will  be  delighted  to  have 
the  lemon  balm.     Mrs.  Hurt,  how  can  you  have  the 
heart  to  keep  a  fellow  away  from  his  office  so  long  ? 
What  if  I  should  have  lost  my  only  client  while  I  was 
here?     Let  me  bring  you  the  'Bazaar'  next  week, 
and  I  will  ask  my  mother  for  the  pattern  you  spoke 
of.     Delighted  to  be  of  use,  madam.     Take  care  of 
Mr.  Burt,  and  don't  let  him  get  to  business  too  soon. 
No,  I  don't  think  anybody  can  quite  do  what  he  is 
doing,  but  we  will  try  to  worry  along  without  him. 
f  there  is  any  thing  I  can  do  for  him,  —  looking  over 
papers  or  looking  into  matters,-— I  should  be  too  glad. 
Good-morning.      Good-morning,    Miss    Butterfield," 
lifting  his  hat  to  Emeline  with  a  profound  deference, 
half  put  on,  to  astonish  Mrs.  Burt. 

The  lissome  girl  smiled  at  him,  as  much  at  her  ease 
as  if  she  had  been  a  duchess  — a  smile  that  followed 
him  in  his  thoughts. 

"  That  girl  is  handsome  as  a  witch,"  he  mused,  as 
he  went  down  the  street  to  his  office.  "  Pity  she 
hasn't  a  better  show  for  herself.  A  man  might  make 
much  of  such  a  woman;"  and  he  wondered  to  himself 
again  over  the  clear  red  and  white  of  her  face,  and 
the  finish  of  her  hands,  spite  of  the  work  she  did. 
Man-like,  he  wondered  how  it  would  seem  some  time 
to  hold  those  hands  and  feel  the  softness  of  her  hair. 
«  Confound  it  I  "  he  said  to  himself,  "  there's  no  com 
fort  seeing  her  with  those  old  folks  about,  ready  to 
take  things  up  if  a  fellow  says  a  word  to  her.  It 
would  be  nice  to  have  her  where  a  fellow  could  'look 
at  her,  and  draw  her  out.  There's  spice  in  her,  and 
sweetness  too.  I'm  after  the  spice.  That's  all  I  want 
of  any  woman  now.  Wonder  if  his  wife  will  report 


THE   NEW   OF  THE  MOON. 


255 


that  parting  speech  of  mine  to  Burt  correctly.  I'd 
give  her  a  box  of  rouge,  if  she  would.  She  needs  it. 
What  fun  it  would  be  to  get  up  a  flirtation  with  the 
old  girl,  just  to  make  Burt  mad."  It  was  with  such 
inventions  the  young  dog  pleased  his  fancy  in  mo 
ments  of  grim  humor. 

Life  could  still  hold  interest  for  him,  and  the  knowl 
edge  bore  the  double  sweetness  to  him  that  sensation 
does  to  one  who  deemed  himself  paralyzed  for  life. 
He  did  not  mean  to  love;  but  this  clean,  blissful  crea 
ture  brought  the  same  pleasure  as  a  flower  or  shell 
or  vine,— any  thing  natural  and  complete,  as  God 
made  it.  Old  men  turned  in  the  street,  and  looked  af 
ter  her,  as  if  she  brought  their  youth  to  them  ;  and 
old  women,  in  her  bright  smile,  saw  their  own  van 
ished  charms  live  again.  James  Gardiner  was  begin 
ning  to  find  in  her  presence  the  charm  and  support  of 
affection  — that  life  of  the  heart,  that  love  without 

love. 

He  owned  as  much  to  himself,  without  reserve. 
She  was  the  prettiest  woman  in  the  county,  let  them 
say  what  they  would  ;  and  any  man  might  feel  hon 
ored  by  being  with  her.  His  father's  son  could  go 
with  a  poorer  girl  than  Emeline,  if  he  chose  to  amuse 
himself  so ;  and  he  swore  to  himself  that  nobody 
should  look  a  cross  look,  while  it  suited  his  lordly 
pleasure  to  admire  the  girl.  So  he  abandoned  him 
self  to  the  pleasure  of  following  sweet  Emeline. 

He  changed  his  route  of  going  home,  to  go  by  the 
Burt  house,  two  squares  out  of  his  way,  for  the  sake 
of  catchincr  si-lit  of  her.  The  exercise  was  good, 
anyhow.  It  was  heavenly,  balmy  weather  ;  and,  if  it 
did  him  good  merely  to  see  the  roof  that  sheltered 


256  A  PAPER   CITY. 

her,  was  there  so  much  pleasant  coming  to  him  that 
he  should  deny  himself  this  indulgence?  He  was 
holding  himself  aloof  from  his  fellows ;  and  this  new 
attraction  —  mild,  delicate,  and  mystical  as  the  light 
of  the  young  May  moon  —  was  shedding  rest  on  his 
hot  and  weary  nature.  Is  it  strange  that  his  lonely 
twilights  began  to  be  lonely  no  longer,  but  that  the 
face  which  charmed  him  should  seem  to  fill  all  pleas 
ant  positions  in  life. 

When  the  pipe  was  lighted  in  his  solitary  room,  the 
visions  which  it  brought  no  longer  had  power  to  tor 
ment.  Instead,  they  were  of  a  gracious,  smiling  face, 
with  dark  tresses,  and  warm,  tender  bloom,  —  a  wo 
man's  face,  with  sleeping  devotion  and  a  world  of 
loyalty  in  its  enchanting  eyes.  He  saw  Emeliiie,  — 
an  elegant,  bewitching  creature,  even  in  her  simple 
gown,  cool  and  pure  and  winning  as  she  always  met 
him  ;  and  his  fancy  took  wide  liberties  in  dreaming  of 
her.  Sometimes  they  were  reading  together,  and  she 
looked  up  in  his  face  with  that  pleased,  sudden  look 
at  a  new  thought,  as  if  she  expected  to  read  the  same 
pleasure  in  his  eyes ;  or  she  was  floating  about  him, 
her  lips  wreathed  in  mischief,  her  eyes  bright  with 
roguery,  as  he  had  seen  her  in  her  lawless  moods  ;  or 
she  was  opposite,  with  her  changing,  irresistible  face, 
a  mute,  yet  most  absorbing  companion.  He  was  in 
that  mood  where  all  that  a  man  asks  of  a  woman  is 
to  look  at  her  and  be  blest  with  the  influence  of  her 
beauty.  Could  he  have  worked  Browning's  magnetic 
spell,  he  would,  and  brought  her  dreaming  to  his 
room  ;  in  reality,  he  would  have  been  content  to  sit 
with  his  pipe  in  his  lips,  and  gaze  at  her  the  evening 
through.  He  had  just  been  through  a  sore  and  scorch- 


THE   NEW   OF  THE  MOON. 


257 


ing  trial,  to  a  true  nature  ;  —  and,  with  all  its  foibles 
and  faults,  his  was  essentially  an  upright  one  ;  —and  it 
Lad  left  him,  as  fevers  or  accidents  do,  with  the  pas 
sionless  calm  and  gravity  of  convalescence.     But  it 
was  every  thing  to  be  thankful  for  to  find  something 
his  mind  could  dwell  on,  and  relieve  it  from  the  bad 
dreams  which  nearly  worked  its  ruin.     He  nursed  the 
fascinating  influence  ;   he  fed  upon  it,  never  asking 
what  it  would  grow  to  or  where  it  would  take  him. 
He  was   in  fancy  wandering  through  spring-lighted 
aisles  of  wood,  with  Emeline  by  his  side,  her  eager 
face  upturned  to  his,  her  falling  hair  making  a  cloud 
behind  it  —  walking  in  sacred,  blameless  companion 
ship.     At  eve  she  was  sitting  in  the  porch  in  the  dusk, 
smoothing  his  hot  head,  that  ached  so.      When  he 
drew  his  books  toward  him  to  study,  it  was  with  a 
fancy  that  she  was  sitting  beside  him,  watching  his 
movements  with  her  serious,  bright,  friendly  face. 

Life  has  no  reality  to  compare  with  the  sweetness 
of  such  dreams.  _ 


258  A  PAPEH   CITY. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

HOW  NEW   CANTON  PROSPERED. 

THE  prosperity  of  New  Canton  was  a  fixed  fact. 
Every  man  had  in  his  pocket  a  decent  load  of 
savings-bank  certificates,  and  every  man  took  them  as 
pay  for  what  he  had  to  sell.  Burt  and  Peppernell 
were  in  the  market  for  every  thing  of  value,  and  they 
got  into  a  habit  of  paying  good  prices.  Was  it  a 
horse  that  Patterson  brought  to  town  ?  Before  the 
days  of  the  savings-bank,  the  animal  would  not  have 
brought  forty  dollars;  but  it  was  nothing  now  to  pay 
a  hundred  for  him,  and  Patterson  was  always  sorry 
that  he  did  not  ask  twice  the  sum. 

Was  it  a  house  that  Bro.wn,  Jones,  or  Smith  had  to 
sell?  Before  the  bank  days,  it  would  have  hung  a 
long  time  at  11,000  ;  but  now  they  thought  nothing 
of  asking  $5,000,  and  got  it.  Then  they  invariably 
turned  round,  and  paid  the  same  rates  for  lots  on 
which  to  build  a  house  twice  as  large  as  the  one  va 
cated. 

It  was  a  delightful  time  for  the  dames  and  daugh 
ters  of  the  aspiring  city.  Calico  went  out,  and  cash 
mere  took  its  place.  Cane-seat  chairs,  once  good 
enough  for  parlors,  found  their  way  to  the  kitchen. 
The  rag  carpets,  once  the  pride  of  their  hearts,  were 


HOW  NEW  CANTON  PROSPERED.       259 

hidden  away  up-stairs,  and  in  their  place  Brussels,  in 
all  sorts  of  colors,  were  put  upon  their  floors  ;  and 
shaky  furniture,  in  striped  and  green  reps,  took  the 
place.  '  The  paper  shades  were  contemptuously  torn 
down,  and  Nottingham,  or,  as  the  housewives  de 
lighted  to  term  it,  "  real  lace,"  was  put  up;  and  many 
a  family,  that  a  year  before  had  been  glad  to  find 
something  to  eat  with  steel  knives  and  two-pronged 
forks,  rose  to  the  grandeur  of  silver-plated  knives  and 
forks.  But  it  vexed  the  women  to  see  their  liege 
lords  continue  to  eat  with  their  knives,  in  the  same 
old,  comfortable  way. 

How  could  Thompson  refuse  his  wife  these  luxuries, 
when  the  house  they  lived  in  had  risen  in  value  five 
hundred  per  cent.  ?  How  could  he  help  it,  when  the 
little  out-lot  where,  in  the  old  Arcadian  days,  he  pas 
tured  his  cow,  and  was  content  to  cobble  shoes  for  a 
living,  was  now  down  on  the  map  as  a  part  of  the 
fourth  ward  of  the  city,  exactly  on  the  line  of  the 
Great  Midland,  waiting  to  be  purchased  by  that  com 
pany  for  their  machine-shops,  and  would  cut  up  into 
seven  lots  to  the  acre,  which  would  bring  five  hun 
dred  dollars  apiece,  at  the  very  least. 

The  fact  that  Thompson  had  paid  five  hundred  dol 
lars  an  acre  for  that  ground,  and  given  a  mortgage 
not  only  on  the  ground  itself,  but  on  his  own  home 
stead,  did  riot  affright  his  soul ;  for  what  was  fifteen 
hundred  dollars'  indebtedness.  Three  acres  made 
twenty-one  lots.  Twenty-one  lots,  at  five  hundred 
dollars  each,  ten  thousand  five,  hundred  dollars ;  be 
sides  his  house,  at  $5,000  !  Fifteen  hundred  dollars  I 
Pooh !  A  mere  nothing ! 

Josiah  Mason  quit  shoemaldng,  and  went  to  "  operat- 


260  A  PAPER   CITY. 

ing  "  in  real  estate.  He  bought  ground,  putting  a 
second  mortgage  on  his  house  and  what  he  already 
owned,  and  brought  into  the  vortex  some  brothers  he 
had  in  Connecticut,  who,  seeing  fortunes  to  be  made, 
came,  and  put  their  good  money  into  New  Canton  lots. 

Mason  became  something  of  a  public  character,  and 
spent  a  great  deal  of  his  time  around  the  bar-room  of 
the  Continental,  where  his  remark  to  "  put  it  on  the 
slate "  was  taken  by  the  obsequious  bar-keeper  as 
readily  as  though  he  had  been  a  government  collector. 

Then  came  greater  improvements.  The  old  hotels 
were  not  ambitious  enough  for  the  city,  and  a  joint 
stock  company  was  organized  to  build  a  mammoth  ho 
tel.  A  company  of  contractors  from  a  neighboring 
village,  impressed  with  the  glorious  future  of  New 
Canton,  took  the  contract  to  build  it,  and  took  sev 
enty-five  per  cent,  of  the  price  in  town  property, 
which  the  citizens  subscribed  with  reckless  prodi 
gality.  Burt,  Peppernell,  and  Sharp  were  the  com 
mittee  who  valued  it;  and  lots  on  Sixty-third  Street, 
Magnolia  Avenue,  Park  Avenue,  and  other  outlying 
streets  were  put  in  at  enormous  prices.  Up  went  the 
hotel  —  a  tremendous  four-story  structure,  with  "  all 
the  modern  appliances."  It  was  a  gorgeously  uncom 
fortable  place,  and  nearly  frightened  the  country 
couples  to  death,  who  came  there  for  their  honey 
moons,  with  its  upholstery  and  its  bills.  But  it  an 
swered  its  purpose.  The  contractors  distributed  some 
ready  money  in  town,  and  citizens  had  the  stock 
among  their  assets. 

New  blocks  of  buildings  were  begun  in  every  direc 
tion.  "  Commercial  Row,"  on  Tenth  Street,  was 
half  a  mile  from  the  rest  of  the  town ;  but  it  was 


HOW  NEW   CANTON  PROSPERED.  261 

confidently  expected  by  the  foreigners  who  built  it, 
that,  before  it  was  completed,  it  would  be  imperatively 
demanded  by  the  wants  of  the  growing  town,  espe 
cially  as  it  was  on  the  line  of  the  Grand  Trunk. 

Men,  who,-  a  year  before,  scarcely  knew  where  their 
next  bag  of  flour  was  coming  from,  now  blossomed 
out  as  property-owners  and  capitalists.  Those  who 
had  nothing  to  sell,  and  no  money,  were  making  it 
very  fast  in  buying ;  and  there  was  a  "  growing  heat  " 
of  universal  prosperity  over  the  heads  of  the  fortu 
nate  citizens. 

How  was  it  with  Burt  and  Peppernell  in  this  shower 
of  gold ;  that  is,  of  paper  promises  for  gold  ?  Mr. 
Burt  would  remark  :  "  Sansom,  you  ought  to  build  a 
new  house.  You  have  made  too  much  money  to  live 
in  that  rickety  old  concern.  It  might  have  been  well 
enough  ten  years  ago ;  but  it's  out  of  place  in  this 
time  of  prosperity.  Did  I  do  wrong  when  I  advised 
you  to  buy  that  block  on  Fifty-ninth  Street?  Eh? 
But  you  sold  too  quickly.  No  ?  Well ;  you  did  hedge 
on  Forty-eighth.  But,  seriously,  I  believed  that 
Fifty-ninth  was  the  better  'spec'  of  the  two.  You 
were  shrewder  than  I  was.  Good-day." 

Col.  Peppernell  met  the  citizens,  as  was  proper. 

"  Timson,  you  fool,  you  have  blundered  into  a  good 
thing.  I  told  you  to  buy  that  whole  square,  no  mat 
ter  what  the  figures  were.  You  bought  a  third  of  it, 
and  see  where  it  is  now !  Worth  ten  times  what  you 
paid,  and  going  up  ten  per  cent,  a  day.  None  of  you 
had  faith  in  the  power  of  expansion  of  the  country, — 
no  faith  in  that  destiny,  which  I,  old  as  I  am,  will  live 
to  see  fulfilled.  The  expansive  West  hez  a  people 
that  kin  see  its  past,  comprehend  its  present,  and  hev 


262  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

faith  in  its  fucher.  The  country  and  its  people  wuz 
made  for  each  other.  Timson,  I  see  you  drivin'  a 
hoss  to-day  that  I  fancied.  Ef  yoo  want  a  lot  in  the 
last  addishen  to  the  tenth  ward,  I'm  your  man.  I 
hate  to  part  with  the  lot,  but  I  fancied  that  hoss." 

And  Timson  got  the  lot,  and  Peppernell  the  horse. 

But  these  worthies  did  not  confine  themselves  to 
horses  and  such  movable  property.  The  prudent 
Peppernell  secured  an  excellent  farm  of  a  thousand 
acres,  out  of  the  "  city  "  a  little  way,  and  erected  an  ex 
ceedingly  comfortable  dwelling,  with  conveniences  to 
match.  He  imported  fine  stock  from  Ohio  and  Ver 
mont  ;  and  his  house  was  furnished  as  nicely  as  any 
gentleman  farmer  could  wish.  He  had  other  property 
safely  invested ;  but  certain  wise  men  noticed,  that  it 
was  all  of  a  character  that  could  not  be  affected  by 
the  rise  or  fall  of  New  Canton  real  estate.  It  would 
have  been  good  in  any  county,  and  it  was  all  in  his 
wife's  name. 

Burt  did  not  invest  in  real  estate.  But  he  made 
frequent  visits  to  Chicago  ;  and  it  was  discovered  by 
Tom  Paddleford,  that  he  made  investments  there  in 
bank  and  other  stock,  convertible  any  minute  into 
money.  Burt  never  mentioned  these  matters  in  New 
Canton ;  and,  when  the  story  got  about,  he  denied  it. 
All  the  investments  he  had  made  in  Chicago  were  in 
the  regular  course  of  a  large  and  extensive  business. 
His  permanent  investments  had  been  made  in  New 
Canton. 

Sharp  and  Peak  imitated  the  astute  Peppernell ; 
and  Gardiner  contented  himself  with  lending  all  of 
them  money,  and  getting  such  pieces  of  choice  real 
estate  as  he  could.  He  was  entirely  satisfied. 


HOW   NEW   CANTON   PROSPERED.  263 

Col.  Peppernell  was  passing  the  bank  one  day,  and 
noticed  that  the  painters  were  putting  a  new  coat  of 
color  on  the  front  of  the  building. 

"  Deuce  take  it,  Burt !  What  is  the  use  of  all  this 
extravagance  ?  "  was  his  irate  question.  "  Ain't  we 
loaded  heavily  enough  without  going  to  this  ex 
pense  ?  " 

"My  dear  sir/'  said  Burt,  taking  him  quietly  by 
the  arm,  u  it  only  costs  a  hundred  dollars,  —  payable 
in  our  certificates,  —  and  it  looks  solvent.  I  am  go 
ing  to  have  the  front  office  of  the  bank  and  .all  the 
rooms  of  the  land  company  kalsomined  to-morrow. 
And  I  believe  I'll  put  up  a  glass  partition  on  the 
counter,  the  next  day.  Only  sound  institutions  cau 
indulge  in  comforts." 


264  A  PAPEK  CITY. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

FLUSH    TIMES   IN   NEW   CANTON. 

COL.  PEPPERNELL  remarked,  "The  pot's 
a-b'ilin' !  "  The  ambition  of  the  directory  had 
been  attained,  and  the  town  was  crazy.  It  was  a 
miniature  Wall  Street  before  Black  Friday.  It  was 
Pithole  immediately  after  an  enormous  strike.  It 
was,  in  short,  as  perfect  a  financial  pandemonium  as 
the  Devil,  who  invented  greed,  would  wish  to  see. 

The  storekeepers  —  merchants  now  —  had  never 
brought  on  so  many  fine  goods  in  all  their  lives. 
Silks,  satins,  and  even  velvets  were  becoming  com 
mon  in  New  Canton  ;  and  nobody  thought  any  thing 
of  it.  Mrs.  Philips,  the  milliner  —  alas  !  there  were 
three  milliners,  where  one,  who  had  been  compelled 
to  supplement  her  scant  earnings  with  tailoring,  had 
sufficed,  —  never  thought  of  taking  a  hat  down  for  a 
customer  for  less  than  ten  dollars ;  and  she  had  her 
pockets  and  her  drawers  and  several  boxes  full  of  the 
certificates.  True,  she  owed  heavily  in  Chicago,  for 
goods.  But  what  of  that  ?  She  was  paying  no  inter 
est  in  Chicago  ;  and  the  certificates  were  drawing  ten 
per  cent.,  if  she  held  them  six  months. 

And  so  she  was  well  enough  pleased  to  sell  Mrs. 
Thurman,  the  blacksmith's  wife,  a  hat  for  fifteen  dol- 


FLUSH   TIMES   IN   NEW   CANTON.  265 

lars,  the  poor  woman  not  knowing  which  side  of  it 
went  frontwise,  as  her  experience  in  head-gear  dated 
back  to  the  day  she  was  married.  The  fact  of  old 
Marvin  coming  into  town  one  day  with  stockings  on 
excited  some  feeble  surprise  ;  but  that  faded  out  when 
it  was  learned  that  he  had  sold  the  half  of  his  farm  for 
ten  times  what  the  whole  had  cost  him  two  years  be 
fore,  and  had  the  price  —  in  savings-bank  certificates 
—  safely  stored  aAvay  at  home,  all  made  payable  to 
his  order,  as  a  safeguard  against  thieves. 

Old  Bill  Messenger  had  no  sooner  adopted  the  wear 
ing  of  shoes,  than  he  tired  of  the  steady  work  of  the 
farm,  and  determined  to  go  into  manufacturing  ;  and, 
with  the  certificates  he  had  in  his  hands,  actually 
commenced  the  foundation  for  a  woolen-factory,  pay 
ing  for  the  excavation  in  certificates.  Mr.  Burt 
smiled,  and  pointed  to  it  as  an  evidence  of  the  prog 
ress  of  the  city,  and  as  an  earnest  of  the  realization 
of  the  hopes  of  its  founders. 

Bartley  Campbell,  having  by  accident  learned  that 
there  was  an  enormous  profit  on  billiard-tables,  an 
nounced  his  intention  of  establishing  that  branch  of 
industry  in  New  Canton,  which  Col.  Peppernell  en 
couraged. 

44  The  game  of  billiards,"  said  the  Colonel,  "  is  cal 
culated  to  improve  the  intellek  as  well  as  the  muscles. 
Relaxation  is  a  necessity,  and  exercise  is  a  necessity. 
There  is  no  more  cheerin'  site  than  to  see  a  black 
smith  or  a  stun-mason,  at  the  close  of  his  day's  labor, 
playin'  billiards  two  or  three  hours  for  exercise.  I 
prefer  old-sledge  or  a  gentlemanly  game  of  draw,  for 
exercise  ;  but  men  is  constitooted  different.  Billiards 
is  also  evidence  of  luxurious  tastes,  and  proof  of  the 


266  A  PAPER   CITY. 

means  to  gratify  'em.  The  time  will  come,  Mr. 
Campbell,  when  every  house  in  New  Canton  will  hev 
its  billiard-table  ;  and  therein  you  will  reap  yoor  har 
vest.  You  cannot  do  better  ;  and,  by  the  way,  Camp 
bell,  get  diggin'  the  foundashen  as  soon  as  you  kin. 
There  will  be  demand  enough  by  the  time  you  are 
ready  to  fill  it." 

There  was  an  enormous  tendency  on  the  part  of  the 
better  class  of  citizens,  to  livery.  In  the  old  time,  the 
landlord  of  the  Eagle  had  kept  a  horse  or  two  for  the 
use  of  the  infrequent  traveler,  —  for  funerals  and  such 
extraordinary  occasions  ;  but  now  there  were  not  only 
livery-stables,  but  boarding-stables  ;  and  one  who  had 
been  in  Chicago  christened  his  establishment  "  The 
New  Canton  Tattersalls." 

Saloons — or  "  s'loons,"  as  they  were  generally 
termed — multiplied  like  locusts.  The  Continental 
and  Grand  Central  had  bars  gorgeous  in  magnificence  ; 
and,  in  addition,  there  sprang  up  the  "  Gem,"  the 
"  Arcade  Restaurant"  and  a  dozen  others,  in  which 
fancy  drinks  of  elaborate  composition  took  the  place 
of  the  old-time  whisky  and  tanzy.  The  Grand  Cen 
tral  imported  a  bar-keeper  from  St.  Louis,  who  parted 
his  hair  in  the  middle  and  wore  a  diamond  solitaire ; 
that  is,  it  looked  like  a  diamond,  and  was  popularly 
supposed  to  be  worth  815,000.  He  wore  white  cuffs 
and  a  brilliant  scarf,  and  could  pour  a  stream  from  a 
glass  held  over  his  head  to  another  held  in  the  other 
hand  as  low  down  as  he  could  reach.  The  bloods  of 
New  Canton  went  wild  when,  one  day,  in  mixing  a 
sherry-cobbler,  he  jammed  the  glass  into  the  tin 
shaker,  and,  after  several  artistic  flourishes,  tossed  it 
high  in  the  air,  and  caught  it  when  it  came  down, 


FLUSH   TIMES   IN   NEW    CANTON.  267 

with  as  much  address  as  a  prestidigatator.  It  was 
reported  of  him,  that  he  had  had  control  of  the  bar  at 
the  Planter's,  in  St.  Louis,  and  had  left  there  in  con 
sequence  of  a  trouble  one  night,  in  which  he  shot  sev 
eral  men  —  the  number  being  stated  variously  from  five 
to  fifteen.  When  asked  about  it,  he  preserved  a  dis 
creet  silence,  remarking  that  such  things  were  not 
proper  subjects  for  conversation  in  public,  which  con 
vinced  his  auditors  of  the  entire  truth  of  the  story. 

But  it  was  in  barbers  that  the  new  condition  of 
things  came  out  the  strongest.  The  word  "  barber  " 
disappeared,  and  was  known  no  more  forever.  The 
one  little  shop,  where  the  citizens  who  could  afford  it 
had  formerly  had  their  flesh  tortured  with  dull  razors 
and  their  souls  vexed  with  dull  gabble,  disappeared ; 
and  "  tonsorial  parlors,"  with  carpets  on  the  floors, 
upholstered  chairs,  "  physiognomical  artists,"  and 
"  hair-dressing  establishments  "  multiplied. 

The  spirit  of  improvement  manifested  itself  in  the 
churches  possibly  more  than  in  any  thing  else.  The 
little  Presbyterian  church,  which  was  quite  large 
enough  for  the  congregation,  was  lengthened  forty 
feet ;  the  old-fashioned  hencoop  of  a  pulpit  was  taken 
down,  and  a  modern  platform  erected  ;  the  church 
was  carpeted,  the  pews  changed,  the  venerable  ten- 
plate  stoves  taken  out,  and  heaters  substituted,  which 
made  the  rooms  as  chilly  and  respectable  as  the  most 
devout  could  desire.  Innumerable  church  fairs,  at 
which  benevolence  and  thin  tea  were  equally  mixed, 
were  resorted  to,  to  pay  for  these  improvements  ;  and, 
as  they  kept  the  women  of  the  town  very  generally 
on  the  move,  saved  the  town  much  gossip,  if  it  light 
ened  the  pockets  of  their  husbands  and  fathers. 


268  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Poor  Parson  Latimer,  who  had  been  in  the  church 
from  the  beginning,  was  very  zealous  in  these  im 
provements  ;  but,  in  the  end,  it  was  very  bad  for  him. 
He  was  not  the  first  man  who  has  been  hoisted  with 
his  own  petard.  With  the  bright  carpet  on  the 
floors,  the  shining  pews  and  the  nickel-plated  num 
bers  thereon,  —  with  the  elegant  Bible  on  the  little 
carved  desk,  and  the  stained-glass  windows,  Parson 
Latimer  did  not  fit.  He  was  a  little  old  man,  devoted 
to  his  calling  as  any  martyr  that  ever  stood  in  fire ; 
but  he  was  plain.  His  hands  were  somewhat  of 
the  roughest ;  for  he  had  been  compelled  all  his  life 
to  eke  out  starving  salaries,  half  paid,  with  work 
upon  his  little  farm,  and  he  was  a  rusty  old  fellow 
at  best.  He  could  help  change  other  things  in  the 
church,  which  was  now  his  pride  ;  but  he  could  not 
change  himself.  In  all  this  grandeur  he  was  a  blot, 
as  one  cracked  voice  will  spoil  the  effect  of  three  good 
singers,  and  was  'as  much  out  of  place  as  the  shoe 
maker's  bench,  on  which  the  owner  had  once  earned 
his  living,  would  be  in  the  drawing-room  of  the  same 
man,  when  he  had  amassed  a  fortune. 

As  Mr.  Latimer  knew  his  people  and  his  people 
knew  him,  it  would  have  been  well  had  they  retained 
him.  He  was  content  with  his  small  salary,  for  he 
had  his  fowling-piece  and  fishing-rod  to  fall  back 
upon.  No  ragged  boy  in  the  village  had  more  skill 
in  enticing  the  wary  sucker  from  the  placid  waters  of 
Soggy  Run,  and  his  shot-gun  brought  more  prairie- 
chickens  to  the  pot  than  any  one  in  the  village.  And 
he  had  patience.  He  could  smile  and  smile  and  be 
the  recipient  of  donation  parties.  He  could  be  cor 
dial,  on  such  occasions,  even  to  the  Widow  Scranton, 


FLUSH   TIMES   IN   NEW   CANTON.  269 

who  always  attended  with  her  four  grown-up  daugh 
ters,  the  joint  contribution  of  the  five  being  a  flannel 
pen-wiper,  and  who  always  fasted  a  day  to  do  justice 
to  the  bountiful  supper  the  pastor  always  provided. 

Nevertheless,  a  strong  party  was  formed  against  the 
good  old  man.  Mr.  Gardiner  and  a  number  of  the 
old  citizens,  who  had  sat  under  his  ministrations  many 
years,  and  loved  the  man  who  had  buried  their  dead 
and  married  their"  living,  who  knew  how  to  console 
them  in  their  grief  and  sympathize  with  them  in  their 
prosperity,  made  a  fight  for  him.  They  did  not  fight 
weakly ;  but  they  were  few  in  numbers,  and  it  was  a 
weak  fight. 

The  church-meeting  at  which  the  subject  was  con 
sidered  was  a  stormy  affair.  The  old  man,  always  so 
meek  and  mild  that  no  one  supposed  he  would  have 
the  spirit  to  resist  any  thing  put  upon  him,  developed 
a  degree  of  combativeness  delightful  to  his  friends  as 
it  was  uncomfortable  to  those  seeking  to  displace  him. 
He  stood  up  in  the  pulpit  he  had  occupied  so  many 
years,  and  made  a  speech  long  remembered  in  New 
Canton.  He  repeated  the  reasons  that  had  been  given 
for  his  removal,  and  commented  upon  them  briskly. 

"  It  has  been  urged  that  I  have  not  the  manner  for 
such  a  church,  —  that  I  have  been  seen  carrying  home 
a  sack  of  flour  on  my  shoulder.  Brethren,  I  admit 
the  heinous  offense ;  but  I  assure  you  that  I  never 
wanted  to.  On  a  salary  of  four  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  a  little  over  half  paid  —  " 

"  But  you  had  a  donation  every  year,"  interrupted 
a  brother. 

"  Yes,"  answered  the  Parson,  with  a  sigh,  "  I  had 
that  additional  expense.  But,  as  I  was  saying,  with 


270  (A  PAPER  CITY. 

four  hundred  a  year,  and  a  large  family,  and  my  house 
being  the  hotel  for  all  the  Presbyterians  who  ever  vis 
ited  New  Canton,  I  was  glad  enough  to  get  the  flour, 
to  say  nothing  of  being  willing  to  carry  it  home.  I 
don't  like  to  carry  flour ;  but  what  are  you  going  to 
do,  if  you  haven't  got  the  fifteen  cents  to  pay  a  dray 
man  ?  Then  my  hunting  and  fishing  !  I  plead  guilty 
to  that  also,  and  have  the  same  excuse  to  offer.  I 
like  field  sports.  I  should  never  have  hunted  or 
fished  a  quarter  as  much  as  I  did,  but  Soggy  Run  and 
the  prairies  were  my  larder.  I  am  not  overly  well  up 
in  flesh.  I  should  have  been  leaner  but  for  my  shot 
gun  and  fishing-rod.  Suckers  and  prairie-chickens 
have  contributed  a  great  deal  more  to  the  support  of 
the  Gospel  in  New  Canton  than  the  people  who  so 
sorely  need  it.  I  managed  to  live  very  well  when  you 
paid  me  enough  in  money  to  get  powder  and  shot.  I 
have  no  style !  True,  I  used  to  dress  better,  and  so 
did  my  family,  but  on  four  hundred  a  year  !  llelig- 
ion  isn't  the  cheapest  thing  in  the  world.  I  should 
dislike  to  guage  your  estimate  of  its  value  by  the 
price  you  have  been  willing  to  pay  for  it." 

The  vote  was  taken,  and  poor  Father  Latimer  was 
voted  out,  three  to  one.  All  the  marriageable  young 
ladies  voted  for  a  change  ;  for  the  incoming  man  might 
be  single  !  The  same  idea  controlled  the  votes  of 
mothers  who  had  marriageable  daughters  ;  and  this 
consideration,  aside  from  a  desire  for  something  more 
genteel,  carried  all  one  way.  Parson  Latimer,  thrown 
out  of  his  charge,  gave  up  the  parsonage,  sold  his 
few  goods  at  auction,  and  left  for  pastures  fresh. 

There  was  a  quiet  sarcasm  in  exposing  for  sale  at 
the  "  vandoo"  among  the  effects  he  did  not  wish  to 


FLUSH   TIMES   IN   NEW   CANTON.  271 

cany  away  with  him,  several  boxes  full  of  slippers, 
bookmarks,  pen-wipers,  tidies,  and  other  entirely  use 
less  articles,  which  were  described  in  the  advertise 
ment,  as  "  the  result  of  ten  donation  parties."  Mrs. 
Scranton,  who  was  present  at  the  vendue,  to  pick  up 
such  bargains  as  might  come  to  her  notice  —  when 
she  saw  one  lot  of  ten  pen-wipers,  warranted  of  the 
best  flannel,  remonstrated  with  the  Parson  for  expos 
ing  her  gifts  for  sale,  and  managed  as  to  get  them 
back  again,  thereby  stocking  herself  for  ten  donations 
in  the  future. 

The  church  was  not  long  without  a  pastor.  He 
was  a  young  man  from  New  England,  just  graduated 
from  a  theological  seminary,  and  was,  in  all  respects, 
a  bargain  satisfactory  to  the  majority.  He  wore  side- 
whiskers,  long,  soft,  silky,  and  wavy  ;  a  pale,  thought 
ful  face,  and  beautiful  high  forehead,  and  such  lovely 
hands  !  They  were  long,  white,  and  the  fingers  were 
tapering.  And  lie  had  the  sweetest  cough  that  ever 
was  nursed  by  an  interesting  minister.  He  read  the 
hymns  delightfully,  and  had  such  rare  taste  in  select 
ing  them.  He  never  suggested  uncomfortable  thoughts 
by  howling  out :  — 

"  My  thoughts  on  awful  subjects  roll, 
Damnation  and  the  dead." 

But  his  selections  were  always  about  love  and  flow 
ers  and  the  delights  of  things  in  general.  And  when 
ho  put  up  those  hands,  and  said,  "  Let  us  pray,"  Miss 
Perkins  remarked,  that  to  hear  him  was  better  than  a 
lecture  or  an  oratorio. 

He  never  offended  any  one.  He  took  Mrs.  Burt's 
medicine,  and  smiled. 

He   could   talk,  not  of  horses  and  crops  and  sick 


272  A  PAPER  CITY. 

people,  and  such  topics  as  old  Mr.  Latimer  was  wont 
to  indulge  in ;  but  he  had  read  Emerson,  and  knew 
personally  the  Boston  celebrities,  and  was  a  walking 
library  of  literature  and  art.  Mr.  Calthrop  was  an 
eminently  popular  young  man,  and  became  more  so 
when  it  was  rumored,  that,  on  the  death  of  an  uncle, 
he  would  become  very  rich  indeed. 

The  Methodists  did  not  go  so  far  as  the  Presbyte 
rians  ;  but  the  spirit  of  certificates  pervaded  their  so 
ciety.  They  enlarged  their  church  —  chapel  no  longer ; 
and,  whereas  before  they  had  been  glad  to  get  anybody 
to  preach  for  them,  they  now  insisted  on  being  pro 
moted  to  the  dignity  of  a  station,  and  began  to  worry 
the  presiding  elders  for  just  such  a  minister  as  they 
wanted.  They  put  a  steeple  on  their  church,  and  in 
it  the  most  discordant  bell  that  could  be  cast. 

A  select  few,  the  cream  of  New  Canton  society,  or 
ganized  an  Episcopal  church.  It  took  them  a  long 
while  to  get  used  to  rising  in  the  right  place,  and  it 
required  much  study  to  accustom  themselves  to  the 
responses  ;  but,  as  the  Episcopal  was  well  known  to 
be  the  aristocratic  church,  they  persevered,  and  in 
time  got  into  the  new  customs  very  comfortably. 
They  built  a  church,  and,  in  conjunction  with  another 
town,  supported  a  minister,  and,  in  less  than  three 
months,  got  to  be  very  High  Church.  They  didn't 
know  the  difference,  but  they  were  opposed  to  any 
thing  low. 

And  the  man  who  had  raised  this  whirlwind  sat 
quietly  in  his  office,  pouring  oil  upon  the  fire,  and  fan 
ning  it  with  his  never-ceasing  breath  to  a  brighter  and 
more  furious  blaze. 


PLAYING   AT   LOVE.  273 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

PLAYING   AT   LOVE. 

THE  last  heavy-footed  client  had  shambled  out  of 
the  office,  and  the  young  lawyer  leaned  back 
with  a  delicious  feeling  of  well-earned  leisure.     He 
put  up  his  papers,  docketed  this  abstract  of  title  and 
that  mortgage,  scribbled  off  two  or  three  letters,  and 
shut  and  locked  his  desk  like  a  man  who  knows  he 
turns   all   his   troubles   under   key,  and  leaves  them 
there.     His  thoughts  flew  back  to  the  warm,  dark  face 
and  lighted  smile  they  had  come  to  know  so  well. 
He  had  made  excuses  to  find  himself  at  the  Burt's  as 
often  as  his  audacity  would  allow,  within  the  last  two 
weeks,  and  a  close  watch  of  the  Burt  premises  had  so 
far  befriended  him  that  he  was  on  the  sidewalk  light 
ing  his  cigar 'whenever  Emeline  ventured  out  for  her 
'evening  walk  in  the  fresh  air.     On  such  occasions  he 
had   always   been   going   her   way  by  accident,  and 
strolled  along  in  the  friendly  shade  of  the  catalpas 
that  lined  the  streets  of  the  village,  lounging  by  her 
side,  without  permission  or  excuse,  till  he  bid  her  good 
night  at  the  door  of  the  acquaintance  where  she  made 
her  evening  call.     He  had  been  smoking  in  the  moon 
light  near  the  post-office,  where  she  must  cross  on  her 
way  home,  and  had  caught  up  with  her  two  or  three 

18      . 


274  A  PAPER   CITY. 

blocks  further  on,  as  if  on  his  natural  way  'home. 
But,  once  at  her  side,  he  had  fallen  into  a  very  slow 
walk,  and  ventured  to  propose  to  vary  their  way  by 
strolling  round  a  block  or  two,  while  he  finished  some 
college  adventure,  thrillingly  interesting  to  her  un 
used  ears.  How  lovely  her  face  looked  in  the  moon-, 
rays  between  the  boughs,  —  tired,  but  absorbed  in  his 
words  !  He  noticed  she  was  tired  ;  and  they  two  had 
taken  leave  to  sit  down  on  the  steps  of  John  Keeler's 
unfinished  house,  and  talked  in  the  moonlight,  he  car 
ing  most  to  look  at  her,  as  every  motion  or  turn  showed 
delightful.  She  did  not  say  much,  her  part  being  to 
listen  with  pleased  attention,  while  he  searched  his 
memory  for  what  would  please  this  untaught  but  nice 
taste.  How  keen  her  little  sayings,  and  how  sweet 
her  voice  and  her  laugh  !  He  would  give  all  his  books 
to  hear  that  laugh  again ;  and  with  that  he  started  up, 
resolved  to  see  her  at  the  Burt's  by  some  means  that 
very  night. 

When  the  only  moments  that  separate  a  young  man 
from  the  girl  in  whom  his  interest  centers  are  those 
of  the  tea-hour,  he  makes  those  moments  very  short. 
Scant  justice  was  done  the  baked  pigeons,  light  muf 
fins,  and  blackberry  jam,  which  furnished  forth  the 
home  table ;  and  his  answers  to  his  mother,  though 
sweet  and  courteous,  were  brief.  When  he  vanished, 
in  fresh  array,  out  of  the  front  door,  that  acute  parent 
put  two  and  two  together  in  this  way :  — 

"  He  goes  out  after  supper,  and  comes  back  after 
twelve,  but  he  is  not  dissipating.  He  must  be  after 
another  girl."  And  the  affectionate  mother  heaved  a 
sigh  of  content.  There  .are  things  which  some  women 
dread  worse  than  daughters-in-law,  for  their  sons.  I 


PLAYING  AT  LOVE.  275 

think  Mrs.  Gardiner  even  loved  her  son  so  well  that 
she  would  have  seen  him  actually  married  to  the 
plainest  girl  in  New  Canton,  rather  than  have  him  re 
turn  to  his  evil  courses  —  a  feeling  which  all  high- 
minded  mothers  will  properly  repudiate. 

James  was  wily  enough  to  make  good  his  welcome 
at  the  Burt's,  as  well  as  insure  their  winking  at  any 
philandering  in  which  he  might  indulge  with  Emeline. 
To  this  end  he  made  interest  with  old  Goss,  a  country 
client,  for  some  new  celery  roots,  which  he  was  now 
conveying  to  Mr.  Burt's-  garden,  together  with  a  brace 
or  two  of  pigeons  for  the  female  Burt,  who,  being  an 
invalid,  with  delicate  powers  of  digestion,  was  sup 
plied  by  devoted  neighbors  with  victual  of  a  rich  and 
savory  sort,  like  mince-pic,  black-cake,  mango  pickles, 
head-cheese,  and  doughnuts  enough  to  suffice  for  the 
maintenance  of  an  ordinary  workingman.  James  had 
made  a  pleasant  little  programme  for  the  evening,  to 
be  brought  about  somehow  by  his  uriequaled  powers 
of  management.  The  first  steps  were  not  clear  in  his 
mind,  but  it  was  to  end  with  a  stroll  down  the  mill- 
road  and  a  good-bye  after  midnight.  A  moment 
more,  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  paced  the  road  between 
the  two  houses,  and  he  should  be  in  that  sunny,  wel 
come  presence,  and  those  large,  eloquent  eyes  would 
meet  his  in  the  innocent,  happy  look,  the  thought 
of  which  made  him  huppy. 

No  form  bent  over  its  sewing  on  the  sunny  porch, 
no  flutter  of  a  light  dress  about  the  grass-plot  in  the 
back  yard  gave  promise  of  what  he  came  to  seek  at 
Burt's  house. 

Mrs.  Burt  was  in  the  sitting-room,  the  windows 
tightly  closed  and  the  shades  down,  to  keep  out  flies. 


276  A   PAPER   CITY. 

The  heavy  steps  in  dining-room  and  hall  were  not 
Emeline's  ;  and,  as  moments  wore  on  without  sign  of 
her,  James  began  to  fear  his  luck  was  changed.  He 
ventured  to  ask  for  Emeline. 

"  She  took  it  into  her  head,"  grumbled  the  amiable 
Mrs.  Burt,  "  that  she  wanted  a  vacation,  and  she  left 
the  day  before  yesterday." 

"  Then  she's  gone  home,  I  suppose,"  hazarded 
James. 

"  I  don't  know  where  she  keeps  herself,  I'm  sure," 
responded  Mrs.  Burt,  with  that  supreme  contempt 
with  which  the  country  mistress  gives  a  visitor  to  un 
derstand  she  is  above  taking  an  interest  in  a  hired 
girl. 

James  would  hardly  have  believed  it  possible,  as  he 
trod  the  walk  slowly  back,  that  failure  to  meet  any 
woman  could  have  caused  him  such  utter  heart-sink 
ing  as  he  felt  at  not  finding -Emeline.  That  sweet, 
gracious  presence  had  grown  in  such  short  time  to  be 
so  much  of  a  necessity  to  him  that  he  rebelled  against 
the  idea  of  a  day  without  seeing  her. 

Where  had  Emeline  gone  ?  Why  had  she  left  with 
out  giving  him  some  hint  that  their  pleasant  acquaint 
ance  was  to  close  ?  Close  ?  He  would  see  about  that, 
spite  of  Mother  Burt  and  all  her  kindness.  But,  like 
the  strongest  man  when  met  by  feminine  wiles,  he  felt 
bewildered  and  helpless.  He  only  knew  Emeline  was 
gone,  and  had  left  him  no  clew  to  find  her.  There 
were  some  less  than  five  and  twenty  townships  in  the 
county,  and  he  was  equally  at  a  loss  to  tell  which  par 
ticular  one  might  be  holding  her  at  the  present  mo 
ment.  The  clew  struck  him,  and  he  almost  threw  his 
hat  up  for  joy.  He  had  a  horse,  thank  fortune  :  and 


PLAYING   AT  LOVE.  277 

could  he  spend  the  evening  better  than  b}r  going  to 
her  home,  to  get  word  of  her  ?  He  must  do  it,  or  he 
felt  that  he  could  not  sleep  that  night. 

Imagine,  in  five  minutes  thereafter,  an  impetuous 
young  fellow  dashing  round  the  back  way  into  his 
own  father's  stables,  harnessing  and  leading  out  his 
own  horse,  and  driving  out  of  town  in  a  flash  of  glori 
fied  dust  and  wagon-spokes. 

Tige,  his  dark  Morgan,  had  never  traveled  the  mill- 
road  at  such  a  gait  before  ;  and  his  owner  never  felt 
more  kind  to  him  than  when  he  drove  up  to  the  gate 
of  the  Butterfield  farm  in  seven  minutes.  James 
flung  himself  out  of  the  wagon  and  to  the  door,  it 
seemed  to  him,  with  one  motion. 

The  dash  through  the  fresh  air  had  cooled  and 
steadied  his  nerves ;  and  he  walked  up  to  the  low 
door  of  the  Butterfield  house  with  the  air  of  a  gen 
tleman  on  business.  Butter  —  that  was  the  errand 
he  made  for  himself.  Mrs.  Gardiner  wanted  to  en 
gage  her  summer  supply,  and,  knowing  of  the  excel 
lence  of  Mrs.  Butterfield's  dairy,  had  sent  him  there 
to  see  about  it. 

While  saying  this,  his  eyes  took  in  eagerly  every 
object  that  might  be  some  clue  to  the  presence  of  Em- 
eline.  Was  that  a  little  black  jacket  lying  on  the 
lounge?  He  had  seen  her  wear  it  a  hundred  times  ; 
and  the  fresh  ruffle,  scarcely  bent,  showed  that  it  had 
been  lately  worn.  She  was  there,  then.  He  had 
found  her,  and  his  pulse  grew  glad  and  still  in  a  mo 
ment.  He  was  a  self-possessed  and  gracious  young 
gentleman  again,  ready  to  take  the  seat  offered  him 
under  the  vine-shaded  window,  and  listen  to  the 
quiet  discourse  of  an  old  woman  who  had  lived  all 


278  A  PAPER   CITY. 

her  life  in  the  country.  The  extreme  neatness  and 
comfortable  sort  of  poverty  in  the  lowly  home  appealed 
to  him.  It  seemed  hard  that  he  should  have  had 
things  all  his  life  so  much  better  ;  and  here  was  Erne- 
line,  whom  he  cared  for  as  if  she  were  a  true  and  gen 
tle-hearted  man  friend,  who,  with  her  woman's  taste 
and  delight  in  pretty  things,  had  to  be  content  with 
such  a  home  as  this.  It  was  but  an  instant's  thought ; 
for  the  homely  room,  with  its  delicate  order  and  sim 
ple  comfort,  would  have  won  upon  more  exacting 
taste  than  his  own.  The  sweet  wind  was  as  much 
at  home  in  that  room  as  among  the  mignonette  and 
French  clover  and  heart's-ease  in  the  flower-borders,  a 
faint,  wholesome  odor  of  new  bread  just  drawn  from 
the  oven  being  the  only  sign  of  housekeeping  about 
the  house.  The  neat  lounge,  with  its  big  ruffled  pil 
lows  scented  with  sweet-clover,  that  Emeline  loved  to 
strew  in  her  cushions,  invited  the  young  fellow  to  lin 
ger,  and  make  much  conversation,  of  an  agreeable 
sort, "with  Hannah  Butterfield,  while  he  sat  there 
taking  in  every  trace  of  Emeline  about.  The  work- 
basket,  with  its  white  spools  marked  with  her  initials 
in  pencil,  he  had  seen  with  her  at  Mrs.  Burt's  ;  and 
was  not  that  her  dress  of  pink  and  gray  gingham, 
with  pretty  flounces,  lying  half-finished  across  a  chair  ? 
Would  she  come  in  while  he  was  there,  or  would  he 
have  to  go  home  again  without  seeing  her?  To  make 
time,  he  asked  for  a  glass  of  water,  and  took  the  pail 
from  old  Hannah,  as  she  was  starting  for  the  spring, 
too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  let  a  woman  wait  on  him, 
especially  if  she  was  old  and  homely  and  unused  to 
attention. 

The  spring  flowed  a  few  rods  from  the  house  ;  but 


PLAYING  AT   LOVE.  279 

not  a  sign  of  Emeline  did  he  find  in  garden,  orchard, 
or  lane.  A  turn  took  him  along  a  grassy  strip  at  the 
foot  of  the  orchard,  where  the  bank  sloped  a  yard  or 
two  to  the  water,  and  wild  fruit-trees  screened  it  ef 
fectually  from  prying  eyes.  Why  wasn't  Emeline  in 
this  nook,  of  all  others  the  place  to  meet  him  ?  He 
stooped  to  fill  the  pail,  with  a  feeling  of  vexation, 
when  far-off  bursts  of  laughter,  as  if  all  the  witches 
of  the  wood  had  gone  mad  with  fun,  caught  his  ear. 
Through  the  orchard  he  saw  Emeline  coining  with 
her  little  brother,  their  hands  full  of  wood- spoil  and 
water-cresses. 

A  low,  clear  whistle  made  her  look  round  in  sur 
prise  that  was  delightful  to  the  eyes  keenly  watching 
her.  She  knew  the  signal  instantly ;  and  the  recog 
nition  was  sweet  flattery  to  the  young  man. 

41  You  did  not  expect  to  see  me  ?  "  he  said,  as  she 
saw  him,  and  came  slowly  forward. 

Her  hesitation  might  have  been  taken  for  want  of 
pleasure  at  seeing  him  ;  but  she  was  only  embarrassed 
at  seeing  him  in  so  poor  a  home.  It  vanished  as  she 
looked  into  his  face,  at  what  she  read  there.  He  was 
her  friend  of  all  the  world,  eager  and  glad  to  see  her 
just  as  she  was,  face  to  face.  He  took  her  hand,  and 
drew  n*er  toward  him,  recollecting  himself  just  in  time 
to  prevent  him  from  kissing  her,  as  it  seemed  the  nat 
ural  thing  for  him  to  do.  His  e}7es  kissed  her,  and 
her  eyelids  fell,  with  the  quick  interpretation  Nature 
gave  her  of  this  unspeakably  slight  and  tender  sign. 

"  How  shall  I  keep  from  kissing  her,  she  is  so 
beautiful  ?  "  he  was  thinking,  as  he  held  her  hand  an 
instant. 

"  Does  he  think  so  much  of  me  ? "  was  her  thought 


280  A  PAPER   CITY. 

the  same  moment.  But  this  was  not  what  he  was 
saying  or  she  answering. 

"  How  could  you  go  away,  and  not  let  me  know 
where  you  were  ?  "  he  asked,  reproachfully. 

"How  did  I  know  you  would  care?"  she  said, 
simply. 

"  Care  !  As  if  I  could  help  caring,"  he  said,  gently, 
looking  into  her  eyes,  as  if  she  were  a  child  he  was 
petting.  "  Oh  !  if  you  knew  how  glad  I  am  to  find 
you  again !  " 

"  Didn't  Mrs.  Burt  tell  you  I  was  at  home  ?  "  she 
asked  innocently. 

"  Mrs.  Burt  didn't  know  where  you  were.  I  sus 
pect  she  ought  to  be  churched  for  telling  a  story. 
.Have  you  left  her?" 

"  Mrs.  Burt  knew  I  was  coming  home  a  fortnight 
to  do  some  sewing,"  said  Emeline,  with  a  little  nat 
ural  indignation.  "  She  probably  didn't  know  whether 
I  was  in  the  south  field  or  the  back  room  when  you 
spoke  to  her.  But  won't  you  come  in  the  house  ?  " 
she  asked,  mindful  of  decorum. 

"  Can't  we  as  well  stay  out  here  ? "  he  pleaded. 
"  The  air  is  so  good,  after  being  in  the  office  all  day ; 
and  I  have  so  much  to  say  to  you.  It's  so  long  since 
we  have  been  together  !  Would  it  cross  anybodjr's 
ideas  if  you  sit  down  on  this  little  bench?  Here  is 
where  you  stole  off  to  read  your  first  novel,  4  The  Pi 
rate,'  you  told  me." 

"  Did  I  ?  I  didn't  know  I  ever  told  any  one  that. 
You  make  me  tell  you  a  good  many  foolish  little 
things." 

"  That  shows  I'm  a  safe  person  to  trust.  I  don't 
think  any  thing  you  could  say  would  be  foolish.  It 


PLAYING  AT  LOVE.  281 

wouldn't  be  to  me,  you  may  be  certain.  How  delight 
ful  this  is  to  find  you  here,  in  that  sunshine  and  this 
cool,  grassy  place  !  It's  heavenly !  " 

She  was  sitting  on  a  little  seat  fitted  into  the  bank, 
in  the  shade  of  a  wild-cherry  tree ;  and  James  had 
found  a  place  on  the  grass  at  her  feet,  where  he  could 
lean  looking  up  into  her  face.  There  was  a  clear, 
warm  bloom  in  the  air,  promise  of  a  most  beautiful 
day  on  the  morrow.  The  little  nook  was  lovely  with 
deep,  fresh  grasses  and  enameling  of  fern  and  lichen 
and  late  spring  flowers.  A  wild-rose  set  its  burning 
cup  in  the  hedge,  and  a  pale  primrose  had  already 
lighted  its  evening  flame.  Through  the  silence  and 
sweetness,  the  clear  water  flowed  ;  and  the  afternoon 
lights  and  freshness  were  Paradise  come  again. 

He  took  in  the  delight,  and  turned  to  her  with  a 
sigh  of  content.  "  How  I  have  missed  you !  " 

4kl  shouldn't  think  you  need  to  miss  anybody,"  she 
said.  "  I  wish  I  knew  half  as  many  people  as  you 
do." 

44  I'm  glad  you  don't,  for  you'd  have  to  find  out  how 
little  they  are  worth  knowing.  Emeline,"  —  calling 
her  by  her  name  for  the  first  time,  unconsciously,  till 
he  saw  the  blood  dyed  her  cheeks  at  the  freedom,  and 
liked  her  for  the  sight,  —  "  I  ought  to  have  asked  you 
(oughtn't  I  ?)  first.  But  I  couldn't  help  it.  We  un 
derstand  each  other  so  well  I  can't  feel  as  if  there 
ought  to  be  any  form  between  us.  I've  said  it.  Why 
should  I  ever  call  you  any  thing  else  but  Emeline, 
now?  Need  I?"  he  pleaded,  softly.  Her  look  gave 
him  assent,  and  he  went  on. 

44 1  was  going  to  ask  if  you  knew  why  I  followed 
you  out  here,  on  the  chance  of  finding  you  at  home. 


282  A  PAPER   CITY. 

It  was  because  I  couldn't  find  another  single  creature 
in  that  town  to  change  a  word  with.  You  are  the 
only  one  who  understands  me.  We  like  the  same 
books  and  the  same  things,  and  —  we  don't  like  the 
same  people ;  and  that's  more  of  a  bond  than  the 
other." 

"  Change  words !  "  she  said,  in  pure  bluntness. 
"  Why,  I  don't  say  one  word  to  your  twenty." 

"  I  know  it,"  he  went  on.  "  You're  not  a  great 
talker,  Emelme  (how  pleasant  it  is  to  be  allowed  to 
say  your  name)  ;  but  your  eyes  say  it  all  for  you,  and 
I  am  answered  when  I  look  into  them.  Emeline,  you 
understand  me  now  better  than  anybody  in  the  world," 
he  pronounced,  with  the  air  of  a  young  man  who 
thinks  he  pays  a  woman  the  highest  compliment  in 
the  world  when  she  understands  his  shallow  and  im 
mature  self. 

"  You  pay  New  Canton  people  a  great  compliment 
in  coining  out  so  far  to  talk  with  me." 

"  Possibly  I  don't  like  New  Canton  people." 

"  Out  of  so  many,  you  might  find  some  to  please 
you.  Are  there  no  young  ladies  there  ?  " 

"  None  for  me." 

She  looked  at  him  demurely.  "  I  didn't  know  they 
had  all  gone  out  of  town  of  a  sudden." 

"  There  was  one  I  used  to  like  and  have  good  times 
with.  She  loved  what  I  loved  and  had  the  same  dis 
likes  I  had.  She  was  a  good  girl,  and  I  felt  better 
when  I  had  been  with  her.  After  the  men  I  was 
compelled  to  associate  with,  an  evening  with  her  was 
like  being  in  another  country." 

"  Why  didn't  you  stay  with  her  ?  "  —  demurely. 

"  I  meant  to  ;  but  she  ran  away  without  letting  me 


PLAYING   AT   LOVE. 

know  where  she  had  gone,  and  a  pretty  ride  I  had  to 
find  her.  She  bid  fair  to  become  the  light  of  my  eyes  ; 
and  she  had  to  cut  short  all  our  delightful  walks  and 
talks  as  if  they  were  no  account  to  her.  She  might 
have  had  some  care  for  my  feelings.  Don't  you 
think  so  ?  " 

"  I  never  heard  of  a  woman's  acting  so,"  Emeline 
declared,  with  deepest  mock  seriousness.  "  Probably 
she  wasn't  worth  minding." 

"  You  don't  know  her,  or  you  wouldn't  say  so. 
She  was  the  brightest,  the  wittiest,  the  prettiest  girl 
I  think  I  ever  knew.  And,  when  I  found  she  was 
gone,  the  town  was  empty.  When  you  have  but  one 
friend  in  the  world,  Emeline,  it  goes  hard  to  lose  that 


one." 


She  believed  him,  she  said  with  sincere  concern. 
She  had  never  had  a  friend  to  call  her  own,  but  she 
could  imagine  it  would  be  hard  to  lose  one. 

"  Then  what  do  you  act  so  for  ?  "  he  demanded, 
suddenly. 

"  I'm  not  in  question  ?  You're  talking  of  some 
other  girl." 

"  I  never  think  of  any  other  girl  but  you.  I  don't 
believe  I'm  decently  civil  to  any  other  one.  You're 
prettier  than  any  girl  in  town,  though  that's  a  poor 
compliment.  You  have  something  to  say  for  your 
self  instead  of  drawling,  4  Mr.  Gardiner,  do  you  in 
tend  to  attend  the  mite  society  next  week  ? '  or  4  Mr. 
Gardiner,  what  do  you  think  of  the  new  novel?  ' 
Their  only  conversation  is  asking  questions,  as  if  a 
fellow  was  bound  to  carry  round  information  for  their 
emptiness.  I  don't  really  care  much  for  any  girl  but 
you,  Emeline,  to  be  candid.  You're  frank  and  kind, 
and  you  help  me  to  forget." 


284  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

The  last  words  came  out  unconsciously,  with  a  half- 
sigh  that  moved  his  hearer's  heart  more  than  any 
priases  could  have  done.  Indeed,  flattery  was  so 
novel  that  she  heard  it  with  a  certain  pain,  as  some 
thing  not  quite  worthy  for  her  to  hear  or  another  to 
say.  She  found  things  in  the  world  to  interest  her 
more  than  herself. 

"I  suppose  it  would  look  very  strange,  my  coming 
out  here  after  you,"  he  said;  "but  a  sweet,  clear 
headed  girl,  I  knew,  would  understand  just  the  lonely 
feeling  that  made  rush  after  you  when  I  found  you 
had  deserted  me.  The  fact  is,  Emeline,  I've  had  some 
very  sad  times  lately ;  and,  if  being  with  you  helps 
me  to  be  steady  and  forget  trouble,  why  shouldn't  I  ? 
I  haven't  anybody's  leave  to  ask  but  yours,  have  I  ? 
You  are  not  going  to  tell  me  I  mustn't  see  you  and 
walk  and  talk  with  you,  when  the  world  is  so  full  of 
things  we  might  enjoy  together  ?  If  I  should  come 
up  this  way,  and  find  you  sitting  out  of  doors  to  sew 
(I  suppose  you  do  sew  out  of  doors,  don't  you?),  and, 
if  I  should  happen  to  have  a  book  in  my  pocket,  why 
couldn't  I  sit  out  with  you,  in  this  pretty  place,  and 
read  and  talk  to  you  ?  I  don't  suppose,  of  course, 
you  would  like  it  as  well  as  I  should  ;  but  you  might 
for  my  good.  What  are  you  looking  so  shocked  for, 
Emeline?" 

To  her  unsophisticated  ears,  his  little  affectation  of 
doubt  sounded  just  as  if  he  had  been  telling  false 
hood  ;  and  her  face,  like  water,  betrayed  her  feelings. 
But  it  was  only  a  moment ;  for  was  he  not  offering 
her  the  best  gift  that  had  ever  come  her  way  —  his 
young,  frank,  honorable  affection  ?  She  did  not  mis 
take  one  word.  Implicitly  she  took  his  word  at  its 


PLAYING  AT   LOVE.  285 

face  value,  and  did  not  count  friendship  for  love,  or 
even  know  that  the  leaves  in  her  hand  might  turn  to 
gold  by  the  magic  of  daily  nearness  and  woman's 
power.  It  was  good  to  be  sought  and  prized,  ever  so 
coolly ;  and  she  heard,  and  gave  all  her  loyalty  in  re 
turn. 

"  I  wish  I  had  a  sister  like  you,  Emeline,"  the  kind 
voice  fvas  saying.  "  If  I  had  one,  I  should  want  her 
to  be  like  you —  so  steady  and  sweet.  Only  you  are 
too  cool  to  suit  me  quite.  I  suppose  you  could  love, 
if  the  right  man  came  along.  Couldn't  you  ?  "  The 
full,  dark  eyes,  lifted  to  his  suddenly,  told  of  a  depth 
that  would  surprise  him,  if  he  had  read  it  right.  "Yes, 
you'll  do.  It's  settled,  then.  You  are  to  be  my  pet 
friend,  and  I'm  to  be  your  next  best  friend ;  and  I 
want  you  to  arrange  so  that  I  can  see  a  good  deal  of 
you.  I'm  going  to  ask  something  of  you  some  day, 
when  you  come  to  know  me  right  well ;  but  I  won't 
now.  I  did  think  of  you  enough  to  bring  you  a 
novel."  The  truth  was  it  had  been  lying  under  the 
seat  in  the  wagon  since  his  last  drive ;  and  it  struck 
him  at  the  moment  that  it  might  be  a  welcome  thing 
for  Emeline,  out  in  the  woods. 

"  Mind,  it  won't  be  all  fair  sailing  with  me,"  he 
added.  "  You  will  have  to  keep  me  steady,  and  I  get 
the  blues  horribly  sometimes ;  and  I  shall  ask  you  to 
take  an  interest  in  things  that  I  want  to  talk  about, 
that  you  don't  care  for.  But  it  won't  be  one-sided, 
for  I  shall  be  at  your  beck  and  call  for  what  you  want. 
Oh !  I  assure  you  I  am  ever  so  much  better  than  a 
woman  friend.  I  can  choose  patterns  and  match 
shades  as  well  as  a  lady ;  and,  if  we  were  cast  away 
on  a  desert  island,  I  could  do  up  hair.  So,  you  can 


286  A  PAPER   CITY. 

talk  to  me  about  your  darning  and  knitting,  and  I 
will  take  an  interest  in  trimmings.  By  the  way,  is 
that  your  new  gown  I  saw  in  the  house  ?  It  looked 
like  your  taste.  And  you  can  afford  to  hear  my 
scandals  about  Driggs  and  the  other  lawyers  ;  and  I 
shouldn't  wonder  if  I  asked  you  to  read  my  speeches, 
if  I  ever  made  them.  I  shall  come  to-morrow,  with 
your  permission.  Good-night,  Emeline.  It  will  be  a 
better  night  for  me  than  it  would  have  been  without 
seeing  you.  Good-night." 

The  little  dell  lay  in  shadow.  There  was  no  one  in 
sight.  She  was  unspeakably  fair  and  fresh,  and  James 
was  no  novice  in  lovemaking.  He  stooped,  laid  his 
lips  respectfully,  but,  oh,  how  fondly !  on  her  brow, 
and  was  gone. 

"  On  a  desert  island,"  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  gath 
ered  up  the  lines  in  his  wagon;  "  I  wish  we  were  on 
one,  Eineline." 


MR.   BURT   BUYS   A   PIANO.  287 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

ME.   BURT   BUYS   A  PIANO. 

MR.  BURT  paced  slowly  home  to  his  one-o'clock 
dinner,  with  his  usual  absorbed  business  air, 
under  which  he  saw  all  that  was  going  on.  He  saw 
Mrs.  Holt's  washing  out  on  the  line,  Wednesday,  too 
late  for  good  housekeeping.  He  noticed  Mrs.  Gra 
ham's  stand  of  house-plants  in  her  bay-window,  and 
wondered  why  those  at  his  house  grew  so  spindling 
and  ran  to  leaves.  He  saw  Mrs.  Brown's  children  at 
play  in  the  yard,  in  fresh  pinafores,  and  wondered  if 
it  had  been  such  a  lucky  thing,  after  all,  that  his  wife 
had  brought  him  no  children.  They  would  have  been 
very  inconvenient  when  he  was  poor  and  making  his 
way.  He  heard  young  Lyddy  Craven  singing  in  her 
high,  girlish  voice  at  her  lesson  with  the  piano,  and 
thought  how  pleasant  it  would  be  to  have  a  pretty 
girl  of  thirteen,  at  home,  and  see  her  eyes  brighten, 
and  see  her  whirl  round  with  delight,  and  feel  her 
arms  thrown  round  his  neck  at  his  return.  He  wanted 
some  tangible  result  of  his  money,  something  besides 
the  mere  satisfaction  of  getting  it.  He  was  no  such 
ascetic  by  nature  as  he  had  made  himself  for  years, 
and  he  felt  the  spring  cf  many  tastes  rising  impatient 
in  his  heart. 


288  A   PAPER   CITY. 

1  He  had  touched  a  life  of  wider  sweep  and  more 
lively  hues  than  this  small,  behindhand,  pretentious 
village  existence.  Some  of  the  men  he  did  business 
with  cemented  good  feeling  by  introducing  him  to 
their  families;  and  he  saw  women  who  wore  their 
dresses  and  carried  their  good  looks  in  a  different  way 
from  any  he  had  ever  known  —  women  whose  eyes  and 
lips  knew  how  to  smile  with  intelligence,  who  had  a 
dozen  ways  to  amuse  a  man  and  a  dozen  things  to  say 
to  him  where  a  New  Canton  woman  had  one.  They 
made  a  man  show  the  best  that  was  in  him,  and  he 
found  himself  more  of  a  gentleman  than  he  supposed 
in  their  society.  He  could  admire  pictures  and  fine 
women  when  they  were  pointed  out  to  him,  arid  give 
an  opinion  on  them  with  a  discrimination  that  was  a 
discovery  to  himself.  He  wanted  to  bring  into  his 
home  the  refinements  he  saw  in  other  men's  houses,  no 
better  off  than  himself.  A  New  Canton  woman  made 
her  courtesies  as  she  made  her  gingerbread  —  by  re 
ceipt.  She  asked  a  male  visitor  to  lay  off  his  hat,  and 
if  his  family  was  well,  and  inquired  when  his  mother 
or  his  wife  was  going  to  call  on  her,  and  seemed  re 
lieved  when  the  visit  was  over.  He  could  not  imag 
ine  his  own  wife  saying  or  doing  any  thing  that  any 
mortal  could  reasonably  find  fault  with,  or  that  could 
make  any  mortal  wish  to  stay  near  her  an  hour,  if  he 
could  possibly  get  away.  She  was  as  positive  and  un 
sympathetic  in  her  tastes  as  in  her  colors  ;  and  there 
she  sat  in  her  window,  in  a  spot  where  the  carpet  was 
worn  by  the  feet  of  herself  and  her  gossips,  watching 
whoever  went  up  or  down  the  street. 

What  ailed  that  unfortunate  woman,  that,  spend  as 
much  as  she  might  on  her  appearance,  the  dress  she 


MB.    BURT   BUYS   A   PIANO.  289 

wore  always  seemed  the  last  thing  she  ever  ought  to 
put  on?  She  had  heard  that  blue  was  the  color  for 
blondes,  and  drab  went  with  blue.  Accordingly,  her 
favorite  wear  was  a  neutral  "  alpaca,"  which  suited, 
as  may  be  imagined,  a  sallow,  pale  complexion,  re 
lieved  by  a  hard  blue  bow  at  the  throat,  and  made 
still  more  ghastly  by  a  pink  rose  and  geranium  leaves, 
which,  with  a  fiction  of  making  herself  charming,  she 
had  stuck  in  her  curls.  Burt's  eye  fell  on  her,  and  a 
shudder  ran  through  him,  instantly  put  down  with  the 
facility  of  self-control  which  comes  of  long  marital 
training.  There  was  space  in  the  entry  to  smooth  his 
face  to  the  regulation  look,  —  the  dutiful  smile  and 
kiss  of  welcome,  that  insignificant  chirrup  which  the 
conjugal  kiss  becomes  after  a  few  years  of  matrimo 
nial  pretense.  He  was  met  with  the  original  remark : 
"  You're  late  to-day.  Dinner's  getting  cold." 

"  All  dressed  up,"  he  said,  duly  noticing  the  flower, 
like  a  model  husband.  "  It  is  pretty." 

"For  my  Chaclie,"  was  the  affectionate  response. 
"Does  it  look  well?" 

"  I  never  saw  the  time  when  you  didn't  look  well 
to  me,"  was  the  dutiful  answer. 

When  he  came  out,  Emeline  was  at  the  table,  in 
her  neat  working-dress  of  brown  calico,  with  traces 
of  wear,  it  is  true,  but  entirely  neat  and  becoming. 
What  delightful  curves  filled  the  calico,  with  its  lily- 
white  collar  inside  the  dark  neck-ruffle.  Her  hair  was 
knotted  close,  a  little  rough  from  her  work,  but  suffi 
ciently  neat ;  and  she  looked  fresh  and  wholesome  as 
she  would  at  threescore,  if  she  lived  so  long.  Burt 
glanced  at  her,  and  helped  the  soup  in  absent  fashion. 

" 1  thought  I'd  have  soup  to-day,  to  use  up  the  rest 

19 


290  A   TAPER   CITY. 

of  that  piece  of  beef."  said  Mrs.  Burt,  who  felt  quite 
equal  to  all  the  talking.  "  I  want  to  get  it  all  eaten 
up,  so'st'  we  can  begin  on  poultry.  A  man  was  round 
to-day  with  chickens,  and  I  did  want  to  get  some ; 
but  I  knew  this  beef  would  last  a  week." 

"  Couldn't  you  let  the  beef  go,  and  get  the  chick 
ens?"  asked  Burt.  "We've  had  beef  for  two 
weeks." 

"  Why,  you  wouldn't  have  me  waste  five  pounds  of 
roast-beef,  ready  cooked  ?  "  said  his  helpmeet.  "  I 
wanted  Em  to  get  through  with  the  light  quilt  she  is 
doing  over  for  the  beds  in  summer,  to  save  washing 
the  Marseilles  so  often,  it  takes  so  much  soap  and 
hurts  the  quilts  so  to  wring  them  so.  I  thought  we'd 
have  that  beef  cold  for  dinners  this  week,  with  hot 
gravy  and  potatoes,  and  you  wouldn't  mind." 

"  Of  course  not.  You  always  do  things  right," 
was  the  admirable  answer. 

u  Perhaps  you'd  like  some  horseradish  with  the  cold 
meat,"  said  his  amiable  wife,  bent  on  being  agreeable. 
"  It's  good  to  clear  the  head,  and  I  think  you've  a 
touch  of  catarrh.  It's  good  in  spring,  anyhow,  when 
the  blood's  thick.  Uncle  Isaac  used  to  say  it  was  bet 
ter  than  sarsaparilla.  Em,  I  don't  believe  you  took 
any  sarsaparilla  to-day." 

"Mrs.  Burt  thinks  I  need  something  to  stir  me  up, 
because  I'm  lazy  and  don't  do  enough  on  that  quilt," 
Em  laughed. 

"  Mrs.  Burt  sees  you're  falling  away  in  flesh  and 
spirits,"  said  Mr.  Burt,  looking  across  at  her  with  the 
joke  in  his  eyes.  It  was  good  as  a  draught  of  spring 
water  to  hear  Emeline's  gay,  sweet  laugh,  not  loud, 
but  running  over,  as  a  child's  does  when  it  is  pleased. 


ME.    BUKT    BUYS    A   PIANO.  291 

Mrs.  Burt  looked  over  the  gravy-tureen  inquir 
ingly.  She  did  not  always  understand  what  Mr. 
Burt  and  Em  were  laughing  at,  at  first.  For  her 
part,  she  thought  laughing  at  table  bad  manners. 
Her  mother,  at  least,  never  encouraged  it.  But  it 
pleased  Burt,  as  she  phrased  it  to  herself ;  and,  for  the 
sake  of  the  successful  man  who  was  making  so  much 
money  for  her,  a  greater  offense  might  be  condoned. 

"  Celia  Goodrich  is  up  to-day,  after  her  broken 
leg,"  said  Mr.  Burt,  by  way  of  more  becoming  con 
versation. 

"  Dr.  Rice  told  me  he  thought  it  was  doubtful  if 
she  ever  got  round  again  with  it,"  said  Mrs.  Burt,  in 
a  tone  of  injured  surprise,  as  if   Miss  Goodrich  had 
given  unpardonable  offense  by  going  against  predic 
tions.     "  I'm  going  round  there  after  dinner  to  carry 
some  of  that  tansy  and  horehound  bitters  Em  steeped 
for  me.     We  can  spare  some.      Her  mother  will  be 
glad  of  it,  anyhow.     How  did  you  hear?  " 
"  Miss  Jane  Ashton  was  speaking  about  it." 
"  How  long  since  you  took  to   harmonizing   with 
Jane  Ashton,  I  wonder !  "  asked  his  wife,  in  surprise. 
"  She  was  at  the  office  to-day,  to  see  about  getting 
some  lots." 

"  See  here,  Charles,"  said  the  devoted  wife,  with  a 
peculiarly  amiable  smile  ;  "  I  guess  I  shall  have  to  go 
down  town  with  you  myself,  if  ladies  take  to  doing 
business  with  you.  I  don't  think  it's  right  for  women 
to  go  flirting  round  men's  offices." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I'd  care  to  do  it,  if  I  was  a 
woman,  myself,"  said  Burt,  suavely.  "  But,  then, 
Miss  Jane  is  so  old  and  her  looks  and  the  style  she 
dresses  in  are  so  much  against  her  that  she  can  go  any- 


292  A   PAPER   CITY. 

where.  I  don't  see  what  women  want  to  be  tall  and 
raw-boned  for,  with  color,  like  a  watermelon,"  added 
Burt,  letting  his  eyes  wander  over  his  wife's  person 
in  a  way  that  she  took  for  a  compliment,  as  she  cer 
tainly  was  the  reverse  of  these  obnoxious  qualities. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  the  old  lady  can't  see  to  busi 
ness,  she  is  getting  so  old,"  Mrs.  Burt  observed,  in  a 
inolified  tone.  "  Did  she  buy  ?  " 

"  She  didn't  decide,  and  I  don't  know  whether  she 
will  make  out  to  invest  at  all.  Parting  with  money 
to  such  a  woman  is  worse  than  telling  how  old  she 
is." 

"  But  she  couldn't  do  any  thing  better  with  her 
money  than  to  put  it  in  land.  Did  you  tell  her  that, 
Charles  ?  I'd  bear  down  on  her  a  little,  if  I  were  you. 
You  can  make  that  woman  do  whatever  you  tell  her 
to,  she  has  such  confidence  in  you,  Chadie,"  — looking 
at  him  with  anxious  eyes  tempered  with  veneration 
for  his  business  talent. 

"  Thank  you,  Mate.  I  may  be  able  to  urge  her  to 
buy,  if  she  doesn't  feel  inclined  of  her  own  notion," 
said  Mr.  Burt,  placidly,  without  the  slightest  trace  of 
sarcasm. 

"  People  need  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  them," 
said  Mrs.  Burt,  placidly,  cheerfully,  and  unblushingly, 
grinding  a  generous  mouthful  of  the  cold  beef  at  the 
same  time  —  Mrs.  Burt  being  one  of  those  persons 
who  pride  themselves  on  their  ability  to  do  two  things 
at  a  time. 

Her  husband  had  come  home  that  day  with  a  pur 
pose  to  carry  out,  as  well  as  gossip  to  impart.  Over 
the  molifying  dessert,  he  opened  play  for  an  indulgence 
he  coveted  and  meant  to  have. 


MB.   BUBT  BUYS   A  PIANO.  293 

Mr.  Burt  was  a  man  wise  in  his  generation,  and  well 
aware  that  women  like  to  feel  the  management  of  af 
fairs  in  their  own  hands.  He  spoke  of  the  improved 
style  of  living  in  town,  and  mentioned  that  a  Chicago 
dealer  had  opened  a  music  store  in  the  village.  Also, 
that  a  Chicago  singer  thought  of  establishing  herself 
there  to  give  lessons.  Kingman  and  Pritchard  and 
Newman  had  ordered  pianos,  and  Mrs.  Newman  was 
going  to  take  lessons. 

"  Take  music  lessons !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Burt,  in  a 
high  key.  "  Better  attend  to  her  children.  She's  as 
old  as  I  am." 

"  As  young  as  you  are,  my  dear,"  said  Burt,  suavely. 
"  But "  (in  his  softest  voice),  "  do  women  never  learn 
any  thing  after  they  are  thirty  ?  " 

"  A  woman  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  learning  any 
thing  after  she  is  thirty,"  asserted  Mrs.  Burt,  dog 
matically. 

Burt  bowed,  and  resumed  his  topic.  For  his  part, 
he  thought  nothing  looked  better  in  a  house  or  gave 
it  more  refinement  than  a  piano,  as  soon  as  a  man 
could  afford  it.  A  house  always  looked  lost  without 
one,  to  him.  Her  own  sister's  husband  had  been  in 
with  the  idea  of  buying  a  piano  for  his  girls. 

Mrs.  Burt  heard,  and  reflected.  If  Sophia  was 
going  to  get  her  girls  a  piano,  it  was  a  step  ahead 
which  no  younger  sister,  who  was  held  not  to  have 
improved  the  family  standing  by  marrying  a  farmer, 
ought  to  be  encouraged  in.  What  did  Sophia  want 
with  a  piano,  when  she,  whose  husband  was  able  to 
buy  hers  up,  farm  and  mortgages,  owned  a  parlor 
without  one?  Still,  pianos  cost  lots  of  money,  arid 
Sophia  would  be  out  of  pocket  so  much.  There  was 


294  A  PAPER   CITY. 

some  comfort  in  that.     She  had  a  great  deal  better 
put  it  in  town  lots. 

Burt  cautiously  added  that  the  Lees  were  changing 
their  piano  for  an  upright  one.  A  piano  had  been  of 
fered  him  in  exchange  for  lots,  but  he  had  refused. 
"  We  shall  never  have  any  use  for  a  piano." 

Mrs.  Burt  thought  he  need  not  have  decided  with 
out  letting  her  know  about  it. 

"A  piano!"  said  Emeline,  softly,  with  hands 
clasped  and  lips  parted,  a  color  and  light  rising  in  her 
face  such  as  Burt  had  never  seen  there  before. 

"  I  should  think  you  might  have  let  me  know  about 
it,"  repeated  his  wife,  "  before  you  refused  such  an 
offer  as  that. 

"What  can  we  possibly  want  with  a  piano  — plain 
people  like  us  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Burt,  carelessly. 

Mrs.  Burt  was  roused.  She  considered  she  had  as 
good  a  right  to  have  things  as  anybody,  and  she  wasn't 
going  to  sing  second  to  anybody  in  that  town,  if  she 
knew  it.  She  might  want  a  piano  herself  before  she 
came  to  die. 

"  When  you  do,"  said  her  husband,  scoffingly,  "you 
shall  have  one." 

Mrs.  Burt,  being  thus  judiciously  approached,  was 
taken  with  the  idea  of  having  a  piano  of  her  own. 
As  she  observed,  meditatively,  nothing  furnished  a 
room  so  much  as  a  piano  and  a  handsome  stool.  Was 
he  sure  Sophia  was  going  to  get  a  piano  ? 

So  it  happened,  that,  after  Mrs.  Burt  had  argued  the 
point  for  a  week,  Mr.  Burt,  out  of  pure  desire  to 
please  her  whims,  found  a  piano,  which  a  friend  of  his 
in  Chicago,  breaking  up  housekeeping,  wanted  stored  ; 
and  Burt,  though  he  thought  it  would  take  up  a  great 


MB.   BUET  BUYS   A  PIANO.  295 

deal  of  room  in  the  parlor,  was  willing  to  take  it,  if 
she  was  sure  it  was  what  she  wanted. 

Mrs.  Burt,  overjoyed  to  furnish  her  parlor  at  so 
slight  expense,  wanted  that  piano  brought  right  home, 
for  fear  somebody  might  get  it  who  was  willing  to  pay 
for  it.  And  Mr.  Burt  carried  out  his  own  idea  in  his 
own  house,  and  his  wife  had  not  the  least  suspicion 

of  it. 

The  first  piano !  It  brought  a  flow  of  delight  to 
Burt's  musings,  which  he  was  careful  to  mention  to  no 
one.  It  was  the  earnest  of  ease  and  refinement  which 
were  to  follow.  He  said  to  himself,  that  he  did  not 
mean  to  be  satisfied  with  a  piano.  He  would  have 
pictures  and  books  and  fine  furniture,  like  other  men  ; 
and  then  — 

But  there  was  nobody  to  play  on  the  new  toy. 
Mrs.  Burt  sat  down  before  her  own  piano,  and  rambled 
her  hands  over  the  keys ;  but  it  did  not  sound  tal 
ented,  as  she  said.  Burt  tried  to  pick  out  "  Hail  Co 
lumbia  "  with  one  finger  ;  but  the  result  was  melan 
choly.  Behind  them  stood  Emeline,  her  eyes  like 

stars. 

"  Em,"  said  Burt,  peremptorily,  "  sit  down,  and  see 
what  you  can  make  of  it." 

She  sat  down  like  a  born  musician,  and  her  fingers 
trembled  with  delight  as  they  touched  the  keys.  "  I 
can't  do  any  thing,"  she  said  ;  "  but  I  believe  I  could 
play  c  Bonnie  Boon '  if  I  should  try  fifteen  minutes." 

"  Try,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Burt,  impatient  to  hear 
music  from  her  own  piano.  "Here,  Burt,  let's  leave 
her  alone  awhile,  and  see  if  she  can't  play  for  us." 

The  pair  withdrew,  and  Emeline  felt  as  if  the  gates 
of  bliss  were  opened  to  her.  The  halting,  unaccus- 


296  A  PAPER   CITY. 

tomed  touch  of  the  keys  made  such  music  to  her  ears 
as  a  mother  finds  in  the  cry  of  her  first-born.  Music 
was  born  in  her,  the  kind  that  comes  by  ear  and  in 
stinct  ;  and  she  was  hunting  the  melody,  overjoyed 
when  she  found  the  right  notes,  and  almost  wild  with 
joy  when  she  fairly  got  them  under  her  hand.  She 
went  over  and  over  the  melody  again.  It  was  only 
the  air  with  a  simple  bass,  and  the  fingering  went 
wild;  but  she  struck  the  notes  with  fearless  touch, 
and  was  sitting  rapt  in  her  own  music,  and  singing 
like  a  bird  when  Burt  opened  the  door  half  an  hour 
later.  He  came  softly  and  stood  behind  her,  without 
disturbing  her. 

44  You  seemed  pleased  with  the  piano,"  he  said,  at 
last. 

She  turned  a  face  alive  and  glowing  with  happi 
ness.  "It's  heaven!"  she  breathed,  in  a  voice  that 
echoed  hidden  music. 

44  Emeline,  I  didn't  know  you  had  such  a  love  for 
music,  though  I  thought  you  looked  as  if  you  loved 
it.  I  was  not  mistaken,  it  seems." 

"  Doesn't  music  rest  you,  sir  ?  A  book  or  a  song 
always  makes  me  feel  as  fresh  as  sleep." 

44  Emeline,"  said  her  employer,  dropping  into  a 
chair  with  an  expression  of  pleasant  relief  which  she 
had  never  seen  him  wear  before,  44  do  you  always 
mean  to  be  a  housekeeper,  and  spend  your  time  in 
work  that  isn't  the  thing  for  you,  when  you  might  do 
so  much  better  ?  I'm  not  speaking  for  my  own  inter- 
est<  Emeline  ;  for  we  could  never  have  any  one  to  take 
your  place.  But  don't  you  want  something  better 
for  yourself?" 

44  Yes,  sir.     I  want  it  and  mean  to  have  it." 


MR.   BURT   BUYS   A  PIANO.  297 

This  was  said  with  such  firmness  and  simplicity  as 
made  Burt  smile.  In  talking  with  this  girl,  his  face 
grew  softer  and  wore  a  friendlier  look  than  usual  on 
that  visage  of  calm  politeness. 

"  Indeed  !  You  have  your  plans  made  up.  May  I 
ask  how  you  intend  to  carry  them  out  ?  You  might 
find  help  where  you  least  expect  it." 

44  Only  to  work  and  make  the  best  of  my  chances," 
was  said,  with  a  regretful  cast  of  countenance,  as  if 
chances  lessened  when  counted  up. 

Burt  took  a  turn  or  two  down  the  room,  his  hands 
behind  him.  Emeline  sat  with  her  eyes  on  her  knit 
ting,  and  he  saw  keen  regret  and  patient  longing 
shadowed  on  her  face.  She  was  so  sensible,  so  brave, 
so  gentle,  he  half  forgot  how  pretty  she  was,  in  the 
genuine  homage  a  man  pays  to  womanly  worth. 

44  Suppose  you  had  a  chance  to  go  to  boarding- 
school  for  two  or  three  years,  and  fit  yourself  for 
something  better  than  housework.  There  are  such 
chances,  you  know,  Emeline.  What  would  you  say 
if  a  friend  could  be  found  —  a  lady  friend,  perhaps  - 
who  would  advance  the  money,  and  let  you  pay  it 
when  you  came  to  making  money  ?  Tell  me  seri 
ously." 

The  color  grew  under  his  gaze.  The  very  idea 
brought  such  light  and  gladness  that  it  did  not  seem 
the  same  face.  The  light  faded,  however,  and  left 
only  the  longing,  as  she  said :  "  I  don't  know  any 
thing  else  in  the  world  I  could  wish  for  myself.  But 
if  there  were  such  a  chance,  it  wouldn't  do  for  me  to 
take  it.  It  would  be  robbing  the  folks  at  home  of  all 
I  might  make  while  I  was  studying.  If  it  wasn't  for 
that,  I  should  have  been  at  school  long  ago." 


298  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  You  are  not  in  earnest,  Em,  in  throwing  away 
such  a  chance?"  Burt  spoke  quickly. 

"If  my  brother  was  old  enough  to  do  any  thing  for 
mother,  I  could  go.  But  I  can't  think  of  leaving  her 
alone,"  was  the  steady  answer. 

To  all  his  pointed  arguments,  she  gave  but  the  one 
return.  Her  slender  earnings  were  needed  now  at 
home,  and  after  awhile  it  might  be  too  late  to  help 
her  mother. 

44 1  should  feel  all  the  while  I  was  taking  my  pleas 
ure  in  studying,  and  being  where  it  was  nice  to  be, 
as  if  the  rest  were  faring  hard  when  I  might  have 
helped  them.  By  and  by  I  shall  be  able  to  study, 
when  Tommy  is  old  enough  to  work." 

"•Don't  you  ever  expect  to  get  married?"  asked 
Burt,  bluntly.  "  You  don't  seem  to  think  of  that 
way  out  of  your  troubles." 

She  flushed  burning  red  an  instant,  but  her  steady 
voice  was  unchanged,  as  she  said :  "  Yes,  I  suppose  a 
good  many  girls  would -look  to  that.  But  I  can't.  I 
shouldn't  want  to  marry  the  kind  of  man  who  would 
take  me  as  I  am  ;  for  he  would  have  to  make  more  al 
lowance  for  me  than  would  suit  me." 

"  You  should  not  talk^  so,  Emeline,"  Burt  inter 
posed.  "  Are  you  sure  that  there  are  not  men  who 
would  give  up  friends,  position,  and  credit,  and  be 
proud  to  call  you  their  own,  just  as  you  are  ?  I  trem 
ble  for  fear  some  one  utterly  unworthy  of  you  may 
carry  you  off  before  you  know  your  own  worth.  You 
are  too  good  for  any  one  in  New  Canton." 

He  spoke  with  warmth,  and  there  was  a  tone  in  his 
voice  to  which  it  was  difficult  to  hear  unmoved,  from  a 
man  so  calm  and  undemonstrative.  Once  more  Eme 
line  recognized  the  friendliness,  the  care,  which  had 


MR.   BURT   BUYS   A   PIANO.  299 

made  the  wedding  party  so  pleasant  for  her.  She  was 
grateful  for  it ;  she  warmed  again  in  the  sunbeam  of 
unselfish  interest,  unlike  the  exacting  heats  of  her 
April  love.  Never  is  friendship  so  welcome  as  when 
opposed  to  the  aggressive,  if  infatuating,  fervors  of 
love.  Then,  his  opinion  was  a  sweet,  sweet  prophecy 
that  the  love  she  knew  best  might  be  more  than  a 
passing  flame.  She  smiled  at  Burt  the  reflection  of 
the  joyous  hopes  that  filled  her  heart.  She  hardly 
knew  him,  the  face  before  her  was  so  open  and  kind. 
In  the  blending  of  entire  friendliness,  discernment, 
and  will  the  face  before  her  was  attracting,  almost 
handsome. 

He  came  up  to  her,  and  stood  over  her,  as  she  sat. 
"  You  are  a  good  girl,  Emeline,"  he  said,  gently,  and 
in  a  voice  much  moved.  "  I  can't  advise  you  to  do 
any  other  way  than  you  have  chosen.  I  have  only 
one  thing  to  say  —  make  the  best  of  whatever  oppor 
tunities  there  are  in  my  house.  I  wish  to  heaven 
there  were  more  to  offer  you.  You  shall  have  what 
you  desire  ;  but  keep  your  intentions  to  yourself. 
Those  about  you  would  call  them  high-flown,  and  you 
would  get  no  help  anyhow.  You  will  not  speak  of 
this  on  my  part ;  for  I  have  no  such  offers  to  make  to 
any  one  else,  and  it  would  be  thought  that  I  might 
have  exerted  myself  elsewhere." 

"  I  should  like  to  tell  Mrs.  Burt,"  said  Emeline, 
gratefully.  "I  could  thank  her  better  than  I  can 
you." 

"It  would  hardly  be  worth  while,"  he  said,  gayly. 
"  I  do  not  care  to  have  any  one  know  that  I  ever  get 
kind  notions  into  my  head,  —  it  isn't  good  for  a  busi 
ness  man,  —  and  you  will  hurt  my  feelings,  Emeline, 


300  A   PAPEK   CITY. 

if  you  speak  of  this  to  a  single  soul.  I  do  not  love 
to  have  my  left  hand  know  what  my  right  hand  doeth. 
I  am  only  a  hard  business  man,  and  I  don't  believe  in 
going  about  trying  to  pick  up  people's  troubles  for 
them.  There  is  only  one  creature  in  the  world 
worth  helping,  and  I  shall  help  her.  Tell  Mrs.  Burt 
I  shall  not  be  home  till  late,  and  she  need  not  sit  up 
for  me." 

He  went  into  the  entry  to  the  hat-rack,  and  Erne- 
line  thought  him  gone.  She  leaned  back  in  Mrs. 
Burt's  best  easy-chair,  and  gave  herself  up  to  delicious 
dreams.  He  looked  in  the  half-open  door,  as  he 
passed,  and  the  sight  appeared  too  attractive  to  leave. 
He  came  back,  his  hat  in  hand. 

"  You  look  as  if  you  belonged  in  this  parlor,  Erne- 
line.  You  would  be  all  that  a  man  wished  to  make 
his  home.  I  wish  you  did  belong  here.  I  —  " 

He  waited  a  moment,  words  struggling  with  his 
breath.  Emeline  looked  up. 

"  You  were  going  to  say  something  to  me?" 

"  Take  care  of  yourself,  Emeline.  Hold  yourself 
high.  Do  all  you  can  to  fit  yourself  for  the  best  po 
sition  the  world  can  offer  you.  It  will  be  yours  if 
you  will  take  it.  Only  believe  in  it,  and  wait." 

He  stood  once  more  close  to  her.  Something  in 
definably  suggested  to  Emeline  that  he  was  going  to 
kiss  her ;  but  his  glance  was  cool,  as  she  looked  up. 
He  shook  hands  with  her,  and  parted. 

Emeline  stood  looking  in  the  mirror  in  her  low- 
roofed  chamber  that  night,  watching  the  warm- 
cheeked,  rich-tressed  image  that  met  her  eye.  It  was 
beautiful,  gentle,  even  refined.  She  turned  away  with 
a  little  cry.  "  My  dear,  dear,  dear  !  I  shall  be  fit  to 
be  even  yours  !  "  was  what  she  said  in  her  heart. 


THE  CONSERVATIVES   BEGIN   TO  BELIEVE.      301 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE    CONSERVATIVES     BEGIN     TO    BELIEVE  IN   NEW 
CANTON. 

MR.  GARDINER,  Senior,  had  always  believed  in 
New  Canton  as  much  as  Mr.  Gardiner,  Junior, 
had  disbelieved  in  it.  Whenever  he  had  visited  Jim's 
office  and  found  lines  derogatory  of  the  great  Burt  on 
his  desk,  he  had  always  called  the  young  man  to  ac 
count,  as  one  who  was  doing  his  best  to  depreciate 
and  belittle  the  father  of  the  greatest  enterprise  that 
the  human  mind  had  ever  conceived. 

There  was  no  reason  why  Mr.  Gardiner  should  not 
continue  to  take  an  interest  in  and  have  a  full  belief 
in  the  land  company  and  the  savings-bank  ;  for  he  was 
one  of  the  sponsors  of  the  first,  and  the  second  was 
simply  the  outgrowth  of  it.  He  was  committed  to 
the  whole  scheme  ;  and,  no  matter  what  others  thought 
of  it,  he  was  bound,  by  interest,  to  stand  by  it. 

But,  to  the  surprise  of  Mr.  Burt  himself  and  Col. 
Peppernell,  others,  who  had  pooh-poohed  the  enter 
prise  from  the  beginning,  began  to  talk  of  the  prog 
ress  of  the  city,  and  to  assert  that  it  had  a  most  solid 
and  secure  foundation.  These  were  men  who  did  not 
leave  their  own  houses,  and  build  new  ones,  or  make 
additions,  or  put  on  wooden  cornices,  or  plant  plaster 


802  A  PAPER   CITY. 

statuary  in  their  front  yards.  They  were  men  of  the 
the  class,  who,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  sustained 
Parson  Latirner  and  opposed  the  organ,  the  extension, 
and  the  new  minister  ;  and  -the  Methodists  who  voted 
Nay  on  all  propositions  to  rebuild  the  church,  and  de 
sired  to  be  kept  as  a  circuit  for  awhile  longer.  And 
the  wives  of  these  men  still  wore  sun-bonnets,  and  did 
not  insist  upon  carriages  or  put  on  any  style  what 
ever. 

Peppernell  rushed  into  the  office  one  day  in  a  glow 
of  delight,  and  bursting  with  something  too  good  to 
keep  to  himself.  Good  news  was  the  only  thing  he 
ever  shared  with  anybody. 

"  Burt,  Hasten  —  old  Sam  Masten  —  and  Curry  and 
Peterson  have  all  bought  property  this  morning  of 
me.  They  have  contracted  for  it,  and  will  be  in  in 
an  hour  or  two  to  have  the  deeds  made." 

Mr.  Burt  did  not  look  pleased. 

"  And,  what  is  better,  they  are  talking  New  Can 
ton  just  as  lively  as  they  used  to  abuse  it ;  and  they 
are  as  solid  converts  as  we  could  want." 

Mr.  Burt  still  looked  gloomy. 

"  Why,  the  news  don't  seem  to  please  you  !  What 
would  please  you  this  morning  ?  " 

"  Colonel,  what  do  they  pay  in  ?  " 

"  Why,  our  certificates,  of  course.  They  have 
stacks  of  'em.  I'm  going  out  to  help  'em  talk.  They 
are  doing  us  a  world  of  good." 

"  What  have  they  contracted  for  ?  " 

"  Masten  takes  the  Pollock  Farm,  at  $100  an  acre ; 
Curry,  the  Bigler  Farm;  and  Peterson,  the  Smith 
Place.  They  went  dog  cheap;  but,  as  they  only 
stand  us  in  $50  an  acre,  I  thought  it  better  to  take 


THE   CONSERVATIVES   BEGIN    TO   BELIEVE.       303 

their  offer  and  get  their  influence  than  to  let  'em  go. 
But  I  want  to  see  'em.  They're  in  front  of  the  post- 
office  now." 

And  the  enthusiastic  Colonel  scurried  out  to  join 
the  party  that  were  talking  so  much  of  New  Canton, 
and  all  recent  converts. 

Mr.  Burt  looked  troubled.  He  sat  for  some  min 
utes  with  his  head  buried  in  his  hands,  and,  rising  in 
a  sort  of  wearied  way,  occupied  an  hour  or  more 
making  figures.  Finally,  he  put  on  his  hat,  and  went 
out. 

These  were  the  thoughts  that  passed  through  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Burt:  This  land  was  worth,  a  year 
ago,  $20  an  acre  ;  and,  but  for  the  land  company's 
work,  it  would  be  worth  only  that  to-day.  Arid  yet 
three  of  the  most  conservative  unbelievers  in  the 
town  have  paid  $100  an  acre  for  it.  Not  one  of  them 
believed  it  worth  more  than  $20.  Why  had  they  done 
it  ?  He  did  not  believe,  with  Peppernell,  that  they 
were  converts  to  the  future  of  New  Canton  ;  he  looked 
for  their  motive  from  another  point  of  view.  They 
had  paid  for  this  ground  in  certificates  ;  and  these 
certificates  they  had  got,  partly  in  the  way  of  business 
and  partly  by  the  sale  of  ground  when  the  flow  of  cer 
tificates  was  limited  and  there  were  fewer  in  circula 
tion.  For  those  they  had  taken  for  their  wares,  they 
sold  goods  at  an  advance  of  two  to  three  hundred  per 
cent.,  so  that  they  could  almost  afford  to  pay  four 
prices  for  land,  and  come  out  even  ;  and  those  they 
had  taken  for  land,  of  course  they  could  afford  to  pay 
for  land. 

The  point  at  which  Mr.  Burt  took  alarm  was,  that 
he  saw  in  this  movement  a  disposition  on  the  part  of 


304  A  PAPER   CITY. 

these  men  to  "  unload,"  and  get  out  from  under  the 
crash  they  saw  was  certain.  Suppose  others  should 
do  the  same  ? 

But  Mr.  Burt  was  a  man  not  liable  to  be  cast  down. 
He  joined  Peppernell,  and  so  managed  the  conversa 
tion,  that  the  recent  converts  not  only  endorsed  all 
that  he  had  ever  said  of  New  Canton,  but  a  great  deal 
more  ;  and  he  made  them  say  it  so  that  it  was  heard 
of  men.  They  were  harnessed  to  Mr.  Burt's  chariot, 
and  they  pulled  as  advantageously  for  him  as  though 
they  had  been  in  the  team  originally. 

But  Mr.  Burt  took  his  hint.  •  He  was  a  quick  ob 
server  of  indications  in  the  financial  sky,  and  he  felt 
that  his  time  had  come  to  act. 

He  took  a  sudden  fancy  for  horses  ;  and,  as  he 
bought  all  he  could  exchange  real  estate  for,  it  was 
noised  abroad  that  he  had  a  large  contract  for  a  Chi 
cago  dealer.  The  warehouse  offered  a  still  higher 
price  for  wheat ;  and  the  farmer,  who  sold  his  crop 
and  got  out  without  making  an  investment  in  real 
estate,  had  to  run  a  very  close  gauntlet  between  Burt 
and  Peppernell.  And,  no  matter  what  kind  of  prop 
erty  is  was  that  could  be  turned  or  twisted  into  honest 
money,  Burt  and  Peppernell  took  it  in  exchange  for 
land  or  the  certificates. 

It  afforded  Mr.  Burt  exquisite  satisfaction  to  sell 
Masten  a  few  lots,  although  he  took  his  pay  in  refuse 
goods ;  and  it  was  a  glad  day  for  him  when  he  sold 
Curry  a  twenty-acre  piece  for  a  pair  of  very  poor 
horses,  which  brought  him  only  $150  in  Chicago. 

The  indefatigable  man  did  not  confine  his  work  to 
mere  retail  operations  at  home.  There  was  not  enough 
for  him  to  do  at  home ;  for  sellers  were  larger  in  num- 


THE   CONSERVATIVES   BEGIN   TO   BELIEVE.      305 

ber  than  the  buyers.  Everybody  had  land  to  sell,  and 
the  competition  was  too  sharp.  Besides,  he  did  not 
want  to  break  the  market  by  entering  into  competi 
tion  with  his  own  neighbors.  So,  he  made  frequent 
visits  to  Chicago  and  Peoria  and  everywhere  else  ; 
and  whatever  he  could  trade  New  Canton  real  estate 
for,  he  traded  it.  Western  lands,  railroad  bonds, 
stocks  of  old  goods  were  rather  good  property  ;  and 
he  was  not  above  wagons,  harness,  guns,  and  watches, 
provided  he  got  them  in  large  enough  lots  and  con 
venient  to  an  auction  store,  where,  without  his  ap 
pearing  in  it,  they  could  be  turned  into  cash.  The 
price  actually  received  was  not  a  matter  of  moment. 
In  the  registered  deeds,  the  consideration  could  be 
put  at  any  thing  that  was  deemed  advisable. 

The  "Forum"  and  "  Sentinel"  were  impelled  to 
redouble  their  energies. 

"  On  the  occasion  of  a  recent  visit  to  the  metrop 
olis  "  (the  editor  had  taken  advantage  of  a  pass  ob 
tained  by  two  years  of  solicitation,  and  had  been  to 
New  York  just  once  in  his  life),  "we  met  and  con 
versed  with  both  capitalists  and  merchants.  The  cap 
italist  was  eager  to  aid  us.  The  merchant  shivered 
whenever  the  name  of  New  Canton  was  pronounced  ; 
that  is,  such  as  were  intelligent  and  knew  the  prog 
ress  of  events.  'Another  jobbing  center,'  they  said. 
'Another  vast  distributing  point  to  cut  our  trade.' 
Time  will  bring  it  all  about.  The  streets  of  New 
York  may  not  grow  grass ;  but  what  is  now  prairie 
about  New  Canton  will  be  crowded  with  the  busy 
marts  of  trade,  and  the  rumble  of  vehicles  will  be 
heard  where  now  the  frog's  melodious  croak  alone  dis 
turbs  the  stillness." 

20 


306  A  PAPER   CITY. 

From  the  " For -urn  of  the  People." 

"  The  uneasiness  of  the  merchants  of  New  York,  at 
the  development  of  Western  trading  points,  strikes 
us  as  absurd  ;  though  it  is,  we  are  bound  to  say,  an 
injury  to  us,  inasmuch  as  it  discourages  investors. 
The  jealousy  manifested  toward  New  Canton,  in  those 
cities,  shows  a  short-sightedness,  to  say  nothing  of  ig 
norance  of  the  condition  of  the  country,  that  aston 
ishes  us.  Do  not  these  men  know  that  it  is  impossi 
ble  that  one  city  on  the  eastern  coast  shall  forever  be 
the  distributing  point  for  the  continent  ?  Do  they 
suppose  the  boundless  West,  with  all  its  wealth  and 
all  its  strength,  will  forever  depend  upon  the  already 
decrepit  East  for  business  facilities.? 

"  The  jealousy  is  unfounded  ;  for  the  growth  of  the 
West  is  only  equal  to  the  growth  of  the  East.  New 
Canton,  for  instance,  the  wonderful  development  of 
which  has  excited  feeling  in  New  York,  will  do  the 
trade,  we  will  say,  of  an  area  of  500  miles  which  here 
tofore  paid  tribute  to  New  York.  This  is  a  loss  to 
New  York.  Very  good.  The  Eastern  States  are  in 
creasing  with  the  same  rapidity ;  and,  by  the  time 
New  Canton  is  firmly  fixed  in  its  trade,  the  states  of 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and  the  eastern 
part  of  Pennsylvania  will  have  increased  in  popula 
tion  enough  to  make  up  the  loss  ;  and  the  volume  of 
trade  of  New  York  will  remain  the  same,  though  it 
will  be  confined  to  narrower  limits.  Its  trade,  so  far 
as  jobbing  goods,  will  be  merely  local. 

"  While,  as  a  matter  of  course,  New  York  will  not 
increase  with  the  rapidity  of  former  years,  it  will  hold 
its  own.  .  It  will  always  be  the  great  importing  cen 
ter,  and  Wall  Street  will  always  be  the  controlling 
money  center  —  the  most  sanguine  New  Can  toner 
does  not  deny  that;  but,  as  for  supplying  the  West, 
that  day  has  gone  by,  and  the  number  of  New  Yorkers 
who  are  investing  in  real  estate  here  shows  that  the 
more  far-seeing  have  already  read  the  handwriting  on 
the  wall.  Still,  we  do  not  have  it  in  our  heart  to 


THE   CONSERVATIVES   BEGIN  TO  BELIEVE.      307 

blame  those  who  are  making  a  struggle  to  retain  their 
trade,  even  for  a  time.  It  is  the  selfishness  which  is 
the  common  fault  of  our  weak  humanity. 

"  New  Canton  has  no  jealousy  of  New  York.  It 
will  always  take  pride  in  its  greatness  ;  for  New  York 
and  New  Canton  belong  to  one  country  and  one  peo 
ple." 

From  the  "Sentinel." 

"  Of  all  the  enterprises  inaugurated  by  that  Napo- 
lean  of  finance,  Mr.  Chas.  Burt,  the  savings-bank  has, 
probably,  been  of  the  most  benefit  to  New  Canton. 
The  last  statement  shows  the  deposits  to  have  reached 
the  enormous  sum  of  8225,000,  all  of  which  is  securely 
invested.  The  certificates  of  the  company  pass  on 
our  streets  as  money,  and  are  preferred  to  Govern 
ment  issues.  At  least,  we  infer  so ;  for  we  see  more 
of  them  than  any  other  kind.  We  take  them  on  sub 
scription  for  the  "Sentinel ;  "  and,  by  the  way,  a  few 
of  them  would  not  come  amiss  this  week.  The  char 
acter  of  the  managers,  the  soundness  of  the  institu 
tion,  commends  it  to  our  people.  Mr.  Burt  informs 
us,  that  he  has  lent  money  already  this  season  to  build 
one  hundred  and  sixty  dwellings,  besides  enough  to 
finish  eighty-one  that  were  commenced.  The  bank 
does  this,  and  secures  itself  by  mortgage  on  the  prem 
ises.  It  has  accomplished  a  vast  amount  of  good,  and 
is  just  in  the  beginning  of  its  career." 

Mr.  Burt  was  busier  than  ever,  and  his  manage 
ment  of  those  who  came  to  him  was  sublime.  He 
had  one  party  out  in  his  carriage  looking  at  Igts. 

"  These  are  desirable  lots,  sir.  The  ground  is  per 
fectly  level,  and  the  soil  is  easily  taken  out  for  cellars. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  get  into  clay;  for  it  adds  to  the  cost 
of  digging,  and  you  have  trouble  to  get  rid  of  the 
earth.  Here,  the  ground  you  take  out  is  just  enough 
to  make  the  proper  elevation  for  your  house ;  and 


308  A  PAPER  CITY. 

your  cellar,  when  walled,  is  just  right.  And  the 
ground  lies  so  prettily  it  will  make  a  splendid  site." 

This  lot  was  sold.  The  next  party  was  taken  to 
another  part  of  the  town. 

"  There  are  no  better  lots  than  these  in  the  city. 
It  costs  a  trifle  more  to  dig  in  the  clay  ;  but  it  leaves 
a  cellar  so  beautiful.  Many  of  our  people  who  have 
lots  in  the  clay  soil  did  not  consider  it  worth  while  to 
put  in  cellar -walls  at  all.  It  may  be  a  prejudice,  but 
I  prefer  clay  ground  to  build  upon." 

The  lot  was  sold,  and  another  party  took  the  vacant 
place  in  the  carriage. 

"  These  lots,  my  dear  sir,  are  very  desirable.  You 
may  object  to  the  depression  "  (they  were  as  ugly 
holes  as  were  ever  seen),  "  but  you  see  you  have  your 
cellar  ready  made.  All  you  want  is  to  put  in  your 
wall,  and  there  you  are.  Besides,  you  avoid  the  ex 
pense  of  having  your  dirt  removed,  which,  in  a  grow 
ing  city  like  this,  is  considerable.  Labor  is  high  here, 
there  is  such  a  demand  for  it." 

The  next  purchaser  was  taken  to  some  very  high 
lots,  which  came  very  near  being  hills,  Nature  having 
changed  her  mind  just  in  time  to  save  them. 

"  These  are  very  desirable  lots,  sir,  very.  High 
and  dry  —  no  water  in  your  cellars.  Some  people 
might  suppose  that  the  grading  to  the  level  of  the 
street  would  be  an  objection,  but  it  is  quite  a  mistake. 
There  is  so  much  level  land  here  that  needs  filling  up, 
that  thousands,  sir,  will  be  glad  to  take  off  the  earth 
and  all  that  they  can  get  out  of  the  cellar,  for  the  sake 
of  having  it  to  fill  with.  It  is  an  advantage,  sir, 
which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked." 

And  then  to  the  bank  of  the  stream  with  another 
party,  where  the  rock  showed  itself. 


THE   CONSERVATIVES    BEGIN   TO   BELIEVE.      309 

"  These  lots  are  extremely  desirable.  The  cost  of 
blasting  out  the  rock  for  cellars  is  something  ;  but  the 
stone  is  worth  a  great  deal  here,  sir,  where  it  is  so 
scarce.  That  taken  out  to  make  a  cellar  will  go  a 
long  way  toward  paying  for  a  house.  And  then  your 
cellar  is  always  dry.  It  is  a  mistake  to  get  into  the 
loam  or  clay,  away  from  the  creek." 

And  so  he  went  on,  selling  lots  and  putting  out  cer 
tificates  industriously  to  whomsoever  he  could.  But 
he  was  also  equally  industrious  in  getting  together  all 
the  money  possible  that  was  not  of  the  savings-bank 
kind. 


310  A  PAPER  CITY. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

HIGH  SCANDAL  IN  NEW  CANTON. 

AS  I  have  said  before,  one  of  the  good  old  customs 
of  New  Canton  was  that  of  back-door  visiting. 
The  old  settlers  thought  a  great  deal  of  neighboring, 
as  they  called  it.  To  live  next  door,  was  either  a 
bond  of  sacred  intimacy  or  a  cause  of  bitter  feud. 
Not  the  least  of  its  privileges  was  that  of  running  in 
from  two  to  twenty  times  a  day,  by  the  family  en 
trance,  without  ceremony  —  a  cosy,  hearty  custom. 
One  of  the  conditions  of  neighboring  was  to  have  a 
gate  cut  through  the  line-fence,  for  these  visits  ;  and 
the  paths  through  the  gardens  were  kept  in  good  re 
pair.  When  a  woman  had  a  dress  to  rip,  a  shirt-bosom 
to  refresh,  or  six  yards  to  hem  for  pleating,  she  "threw 
something  over  her  head,"  and  wended  her  way  through 
the  plum-trees,  past  the  rhubarb-border,  the  grape-vine 
trellis,  and  cistern,  to  the  side  door,  appearing  with 
work  in  her  arms  and  the  latest  gossip  on  her  tongue, 
—  always  welcome. 

Burt,  who  was  a  quiet  observer  of  human  nature 
outside  of  business,  was  wont  to  say,  in  a  purely  medi 
tative  way,  that  more  lies  were  brought  in  at  the  back 
doors  of  New  Canton  that  all  the  men  and  women 
could  carry  out  at  the  front.  By  this  means,  Mrs. 


HIGH   SCANDAL  IN  NEW  CANTON.  311 

Pettit  came  to  tell  Mrs.  Morse  that  her  husband  was 
suspected  of  going  to  New  York  with  another  woman, 
which  Mrs.  Pettit  thought  Mrs.  Morse  ought  to  know, 
making  a  pretty  kettle  of  fish  for  Morse  when  he 
came  home  full  of  worry  about  the  notes  his  partner 
failed  to  pay.  Then,  it  came  out,  that  Morse  had 
been  guilty  of  meeting  an  old  schoolmate,  who  was 
going  home  sick  to  her  brother's  house,  and  had  been 
man  enough  to  show  her  a  little  attention.  Morse 
experienced  the  full  truth  of  the  saying,  that  mud 
will  stick.  There  were  several  good  people  in  New 
Canton  who  could  never  be  brought  to  believe  that 
there  wasn't  something  in  the  report ;  "  for  somebody 
had  said  so,"  with  the  beautiful  credulity  with  which 
people  assure  you  that  a  thing  must  be  true,  for  they 
have  seen  it  in  a  newspaper. 

There  was  something  ill  in  the  wind  for  Emeline. 
The  doctor's  wife  had  it  from  her  husband,  who  had 
heard  it  in  the  drug-store  while  he  was  putting  up  his 
own  medicines  behind  the  screen.  Mrs.  Long  was 
sewing  at  the  doctor's  house,  and  mentioned  it  next 
day  at  Mrs.  Eaton's,  who  told  it  in  the  presence  of 
two  or  three  callers,  who  made  a  wider  round  than 
usual  to  give  the  matter  a  good  talking  over.  It  was 
"  Oh,  dear  !  "  It  couldn't  be  true  !  and  they  should 
like  to  know  what  New  Canton  was  coming  to.  And, 
when  the  first  shock  of  surprise  was  over  and  they  had 
taken  breath,  they  found  space  to  reflect  that  that  girl 
had  been  getting  ahead  too  fast  and  needed  less  no 
tice.  And  there  always  was  something  they  didn't 
just  like  about  her,  —  something  too  original  and  in 
dependent  for  one  in  her  position  ;  though  there  were 
not  wanting  others,  who  never  could  see  what  people 


312  A  PAPER   CITY. 

found  in  her  out  of  the  common  —  a  girl  James  Gardi 
ner  had  been  able  to  lead  about  as  he  wanted,  and, 
they  hoped,  left  her  owing  much  to  his  mercy. 

How  glad  those  well-to-do  women  were  of  a  chance 
to  flout  at  her.  Not  one  of  them  but  had  her  count 
of  petty  disgrace  to  answer  for,  if  it  had  been  known, 
—  her  stinginess  and  acted  untruths,  and  stones 
thrown  with  deadly  aim,  though  they  never  happened 
to  do  much  hurt.  Among  those  sober  matrons,  who 
walked  looking  askant  at  Emeline,  there  was  not  one 
in  whose  record  would  have  read  as  well  as  the  pa 
tient,  ardent  unselfishness  of  the  girl,  whose  desire 
life  was  to  be  loved  and  to  make  those,  whose  sole 
hope  and  dependence  she  was,  happy.  Those  women 
had  been  dutiful  daughters,  in  their  time,  to  fathers 
and  mothers  whose  pride  was  in  their  children,  who 
left  them  comfortable  plenishings  and  creditable 
names  and  the  memory  of  indulgence  and  fondness, 
which  was  something  to  blame  for  their  complete  ab 
sorption  in  themselves.  They  had  been  good  wives  ? 
Yes,  to  men  who  spent  their  lives  in  toil  to  give  them 
and  their  children  sure  and  good  livings  and  hand 
some  dress  and  well-furnished  houses  to  compare  with 
their  neighbors',  and  to  make  provision  for  them 
against  time  of  need,  —  men  whose  names  gave  them 
shelter  and  credit,  whose  strength  supplemented  their 
weakness  and  peevishness,  —  men  who  not  seldom 
looked  from  their  work  to  ask  what  satisfaction  there 
was  in  this  thankless  labor,  —  men  who  went  to  the 
lounging-places  and  hotels,  for  want  of  the  companion 
ship  these  model  wives  failed  to  provide  for  them. 
These  women  had  had  their  returns  for  every  penny 
worth  of  help  or  duty  they  ever  rendered  in  their 


HIGH    SCANDAL   IN   NEW   CANTON.  313 

lives  ;  and  not  one  of  them  was  above  stabbing  an 
other  woman  or  woman's  child,  if  it  would  enhance 
their  own  consequence. 

Emeline  was  neither  saint  nor  heroine  ;  yet  it  could 
be  said  of  her,  that  she  never  stepped  on  a  worm  or 
mangled  a  spider,  and  left  it  without  killing  it,  be 
cause  it  was  too  much  trouble  to  end  the  creature's 
agony.  She  never  was  known  to  slight  a  thing  she 
had  to  do,  —  she  never  believed  a  scandal  or  repeated 
one  maliciously  ;  and  it  was  a  part  of  her  instinct  and 
belief,  that,  to  see  a  chance  to  do  a  fellow  creature 
good  and  not  do  it,  was  q,  crime  to  rise  up  against  her 
in  her  own  need.  An  odd  notion,  by  the  way,  which, 
if  it  were  carried  out  by  each  of  us,  would  make  this 
world  a  place  worth  living  in  without  further  ado. 
She  was  pitilessly  just ;  for,  with  her,  justice  was 
akin  to  mercy,  and,  with  its  aid,  she  held  there  would 
be  no  need  to  call  on  mercy,  whose  name  men  like  so 
much  better.  It  would  be  ill,  if,  in  her  future,  that 
clear  vision  was  warped  or  any  case  set  in  false  colors 
before  her ;  for  her  hand  would  be  as  swift  and  steady 
in  carrying  out  her  right  or  her  vengeance  as  ever  it 
was  to  carry  kindness.  Nature  had  given  her  such 
hidden  weapons  as  she  puts  into  the  hands  of  many 
creatures  —  wit,  fearlessness  and  endurance,  foresight, 
and  memory  for  a  favor  or  a  wrong  ;  while  to  these 
she  added  special  gifts  without  which  the  others  come 
to  nothing,  as  we  see  every  day,  when  the  race  is  not 
to  the  swift,  but  to  the  slow  and  unbaffled ;  and  the 
battle  is  not  to  the  strong,  who  disdain  to  guard  their 
own  right,  but  to  the  determined  will  which  never 
abandons  an  advantage  of  which  it  becomes  possessed. 
This  was  the  woman  whom  feminine  New  Canton 
meant  to  put  out  of  the  way  with  hairpins. 


314  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Miss  Ritchie  met  Miss  Garnett,  on  the  way  to  her 
German  lesson,  primed  with  the  latest  news,  and 
aching  to  dispense  it.  As  it  happened,  Miss  Gar 
nett  had  the  latest  new  novel,  and  Miss  Ritchie 
wanted  to  read  it.  Edith  Garnett  would  be  delighted 
to  let  her  have  it  as  soon  as  Emeline  Butterfield  was 
through  with  it.  Immediately,  Miss  Ritchie's  air  grew 
cautious  and  her  face  so  delicately  non-committal,  as 
to  convey  to  Miss  Garnett  that  her  friend's  sensibili 
ties  retreated  from  the  mention  of  Emeline.  Ants 
talk  with  their  feelers.  It  is  by  such  slight  signs 
that  women  read  each  others  deepest  feelings. 

"  Do  you  see  much  of  that  girl  ?  "  asked  Miss  Ritchie, 
significantly. 

"  She  is  as  bright  and  sweet  as  she  can  be,"  was 
the  ready  answer.  "  I  see  all  I  can  of  her.  What 
of  it?" 

44  Nothing,  if  you  like  her." 

44  What  is  the  matter  ? "  demanded  the  girl,  who  de 
tested  side-firing. 

"  Nothing  at  all,"  was  the  truthful  reply.  "  I 
didn't  know  you  were  on  such  good  terms  with  her, 
or  I  should  not  have  spoken  so.  Is  your  muslin  apron 
done  yet  ?  " 

44  My  apron  is  much  obliged  for  your  interest. 
You've  said  too  much,  Virginia,  to  turn  me  off  like 
this,  without  telling  exactly  what  you  mean.  I  don't 
think  it's  any  way  to  treat  a  friend.  If  you  have 
any  thing  against  Emeline,  say  so.  I  don't  know 
much  of  her,  but  she  seems  a  very  pleasant,  pretty 
girl." 

44  James  Gardiner  seems  to  think  so,  too,"  was  the 
mysterious  answer. 


HIGH   SCANDAL  IN   NEW   CANTON.  315 

"  Well,  is  there  any  harm  in  that  ?  I  don't  know 
that  is  any  thing  against  Emeline.  There  are  plenty 
girls  in  town  who  wouldn't  mind  having  the  same 
thing  said  about  them." 

"  I'm  glad  to  see  Miss  Butterfield  can  find  people 
to  get  up  such  an  interest  in  her  on  short  notice.  She 
has  the  gift  of  manoeuvring  them  into  very  ardent 
friends." 

"I'm  not  ardent.  You  are  always  chaffing  me 
about  being  ardent,  because  I  stand  by  people  when 
I  don't  know  any  thing  against  them.  I  can  judge 
people  as  well  as  you  do,  and  I  don't  believe  in  say 
ing  any  thing  against  them  on  a  dislike  that  isn't 
founded." 

"  Well,"  with  a  lofty  air,  "  Edith,  I  know  you  con 
sider  me  prejudiced  ;  but  I  can't  alter  my  likes  and 
dislikes  at  a  word,  even  from  you.  I  don't  wish  to 
say  any  thing  against  this  girl.  I'd  rather  you  would 
form  your  opinion  for  yourself,  and  not  ask  for  my 
impressions.  You  may  find  something  to  like  in  her 
very  much.  I  cannot.  But  I  am  singular  in  my 
preferences,  and  I  want  to  know  more  about  people 
before  I  take  them  up  as  New  Canton  was  taking  up 
that  girl.  She  looks  too  sensational  to  suit  me.  I 
don't  think  any  young  lady  would  go  walking  with  a 
young  gentleman,  and  meet  him  constantly  on  the 
street  and- in  the  grove,  unless  she  was  very  careless 
of  her  reputation  or  had  none  to  lose.  That's  all." 

"  She's  not  a  bad  girl,"  flashed  the  warm-hearted 
defender.  "  Look  in  her  face,  and  say  that,  if  you 
can.  Besides,  Mrs.  Burt  wouldn't  have  her  in  the 
family  if  she  was  like  that." 

"  Perhaps  Mrs.  Burt  don't  know  the  way  the  girl 


316  A   PAPER   CITY. 

carries  on  evenings.  Jane  Ashley  says  they  have 
been  seen  ever  so  many  times  on  the  road  to  the  lower 
grove ;  and  PepperiielL  heard  James  make  an  appoint 
ment  with  her  one  Sunday,  when  she  was  going  home 
from  church.  The  Colonel  heard  him  say,  '  This  af 
ternoon,  in  the  old  place.'  If  he  means  well,  why 
don't  he  go  and  see  her  at  the  house  ?  Would  you 
let  a  gentleman  make  appointments  with  you  like  that, 
and  set  the  whole  town  talking  about  you?" 

" 1  don't  care  !  I  can't  believe  it.  I've  never  seen 
a  thing  wrong  in  her,  and  she  can't  be  such  a  fool  as 
to  throw  herself  away  like  that.  I  won't  believe  it." 

"  I  don't  ask  you  to,"  was  the  dry  answer.  "  I'm 
not  trying  to  get  you  to  believe  it.  I  don't  want  to 
do  the  girl  any  harm.  What  is  she  to  me  ?  You  talk 
as  if  I  had  some  spite  against  her.  I  must  say  you 
might  have  some  charity  for  your  friends,  as  long  as 
you  have  so  much  for  girls  nobody  knows.  All  New 
Canton  is  talking  about  her.  I  hope  it  may  prove 
groundless,  and  James  turn  out  all  right,  for  his  moth 
er's  sake.  But  you  know  he  has  been  very  wild  of 
late.  I  thought,  since  you  had  taken  Emeline  up  so 
ardently,  it  was  just  to  let  you  know  how  she  stood. 
I  should  dreadfully  hate  to  get  myself  talked  about 
with  her,  if  I  were  you." 

The  thistledown  was  floating  that  would  catch  in 
every  corner  and  bear  evil  for  Emeline.  She,  uncon 
scious,  was  finding  life  a  great  deal  too  pleasant,  in 
thoughtless  rambles  and  endless  satisfying  talks  with 
the  handsome  young  lawyer,  whose  manner  of  late 
conveyed  very  strong  signs  of  being  in  love  with  his 
pretty  friend. 

In  love  with  her  !     Not  possible  !     In  all  her  wild- 


HIGH   SCANDAL   IX  NEW   CANTON.  317 

est  dreams  of  her  girlhood,  she  had  not  looked  for  this. 
Some  well-to-do  man  might  in  time  fall  in  love  with 
her  and  marry  her,  she  was  sure ;  for  the  seven-by-nine 
mirror  did  not  hang  in  her  room  for  nothing,  and  she 
knew  that  naturally  curly  hair,  small  hands  and  feet, 
and  big  black  eyes  had  a  value  in  the  world.  But 
that  James  Gardiner,  who  held  himself  at  such  a  mag 
nificent  pitch,  should  come  to  her  night  after  night, 
and  walk  with  her,  hold  her  hand  in  his,  and  adjust 
her  shawl,  and  say  his  brightest  things  to  her,  was  as 
if  the  sun  and  seven  stars  had  been  left  her  as  a  leg 
acy.  The  half-story  bedroom  at  Burt's  was  as  full 
of  happiness  as  it  could  hold;  and  she  lived  and 
walked  in  such  a  brightness  that  it  seemed  as  if  the 
rest  must  see  it  and  find  out  her  secret.  She  went 
home  after  those  precious  walks  thrilling  with  a  name 
less  great  delight,  that  kept  her  healthy  eyes  open  till 
the  moon  looked  in  the  southern  window. 

At  first,  there  was  no  room  in  Emeline's  heart  for 
any  thing  but  adoration  of  the  man  her  beauty  had 
won  to  her  side.  It  was  so  strange  to  be  loved, 
to  be  met  with  glad  glances  and  the  warmest,  soft 
est  words.  She  had  a  sense  of  being  contented 
and  protected,  as  a  young  bird  in  the  nest  which  its 
mother  defends  with  her  fierce,  beating  wings.  She 
never  thought  that  he  was  the  banker's  son,  and  she 
the  poorest  woman  belonging  to  the  lowest  family  in 
the  county.  It  seemed  right  that  he  should  love  whom 
he  chose  ;  and,  as  he  would  lower  himself  willingly, 
it  followed  that  she  was  as  good  as  himself.  Else  how 
could  there  be  love  between  them  ?  She  thought  no 
further.  The  hunger  of  the  soul  for  love  goes  so  far 
beyond  that  of  the  body  or  of  pride  that  it  is  long  be- 


318  A  PAPER   CITY. 

fore  either  wakes  if  the  divine  craving  is  satisfied. 
Emeline  was  content  to  be  loved.  She  could  have 
walked  all  her  life  in  her  humble  path,  in  the  shadow 
of  this  love,  and  never  asked  for  more.  The  cup  of 
unselfish  love  is  filled  by  a  divine  hand,  and  whoso 
ever  tastes  of  it  shall  thirst  for  nought  besides. 

How  was  it  with  James  ?  A  young  man  taught  by 
the  circle  he  moved  in  to  think  the  wearing  of  good 
clothes  and  leading  an  agreeable  life  indispensable 
conditions  of  existence,  he  was  naturally  slower  in 
forgetting  his  code.  But  he  could  as  well  try  to  be 
insensible  to  attar  of  roses  as  deny  his  heart  to  Eme 
line.  He  made  few  words  of  love  suffice,  but  he 
could  not  deny  himself  its  signs. 

The  summer  fled  too  fast  for  one  so  happy.  Eme 
line  laughed  at  her  past  life  of  privation,  the  present 
was  so  rich  in  attention  and  love.  She  counted  her 
self,  and  many  others  counted  her,  with  her  gifts  and 
prospects,  the  most  fortunate  woman  in  New  Canton. 
James  had  been  her  devoted  companion  those  long, 
bright  months,  every  hour  that  either  could  lawfully 
contrive  to  spend  together.  What  strolls  after  dark 
down  the  mill-road,  where  the  road  led  into  the  heart 
of  the  woods,  and  the  stump  under  the  landmark  oak 
grew  their  regular  resting-place,  and  two  figures  in 
light  summer  dresses  flitted  there  every  fair  night. 
When  Mrs.  Burt  was  away,  what  earthly  wrong  was 
there  in  James  making  his  appearance,  book  in  hand, 
to  sit  with  Emeline,  while  her  swift  fingers  flew  over 
the  sewing.  Mrs.  Burt  always  knew  when  Emeline 
had  company  by  the  extra  work  she  finished ;  and, 
finding  her  own  account  good  in  the  matter,  concluded, 
if  Emeline  chose  to  let  Jim  Gardiner  come  fooling 


HIGH   SCANDAL   IN  NEW   CANTON.  319 

round  her,  she  had  no  cause  to  interfere.  So,  allowed 
to  associate  freely  with  her,  he  taught  the  girl  uncon 
sciously  the  refinement  of  thought  and  manner  she 
was  better  fitted  for  by  Nature  than  himself,  a  grace 
which  she  returned  by  as  much  loyalty  as  a  woman 
could  give  to  a  man. 

The  year  had  taken  its  downward  dip  to  autumn  ; 
but  the  days  were  still  sunny  and  the  wood-seat  a 
pleasant  tryst.  Unconscious  of  the  ill  breath  busy 
with  her  name,  Emeline  made  ready  one  evening  to 
meet  her  lover.  The  weariness  of  the  brisk  day's 
work  left  her  healthy  young  frame  at  thought  of  his 
handsome  figure,  coming  through  the  trees  between 
her  and  the  sunset.  Out  of  her  toiling  in  other  peo 
ple's  houses  and  sitting  in  the  lowest  place  at  their  ta 
bles,  from  her  poor,  -ill-kept  home,  she  was  coming  to 
love  and  honor.  A  man  as  brave  to  look  at,  and  stand 
ing  as  well  with  his  fellows  as  one  could  find  in  a 
summer  day  had  chosen  her  and  waited  for  her  ;  and 
sne  would  see  him  to-night,  and  his  deep  eyes  would 
dwell  on  hers  in  less  than  an  hour.  She  felt  them 
now,  so  kind,  so  trusty,  a  heaven  of  ardent,  enduring 
love  to  the  hard-worked  woman,  who  in  all  her  life 
had  known  few  such  looks  and  longed  for  them 
with  such  a  mortal  hunger.  How  good  she  could  be 
to  him  —  better  than  ever  woman  had  been  to  man 
since  streams  ran  under  the  sky  of  Illinois ;  and  una 
wares  she  trembled  to  think  what  a  hold  he  had  upon 
her. 

All  was  bliss  and  tender,  shaken  hope  in  that  low 
chamber  under  the  roof  at  Burt's.  The  small  mirror 
showed  a  face  lovely  in  its  flushing  anticipation,  set 
free  from  the  composure  in  her  position.  There  was 


A   PAPER   CITY. 

room,  now  that  she  was  by  herself,  for  pride  and  pleas 
ure  in  herself  and  the  little  nice  touches  she  gave  her 
toilet.     Never  was  gay  gingham  so  fresh  and  perfect 
as  that  she  slipped  on  now,  holding  her  breath  as  she 
drew  it  over  her  glossy  curls,  for  fear  it  should  disturb 
their  ruffled  gloss  and  glory.     Her  face  smiled  beauti 
ful  as  Egeria  looking  up  from  a  fern-shaped  spring  in 
the  depths  of  a  wood,  —  a  face  that  small  children 
fell  passionately  in  love  with  and  cried  for,  —  a  face  of 
warmth  and  mirth  and   quickness,  with   its    creamy 
skin  under  the  shining,  shadow-haunted  disorder  of 
her  hair.     She  was  the  happiest  creature  in  town  as 
she  crossed  the  little  bridge  and  went  down  the  road 
in  the  edge  of  the  wood.     The  marshy  flats  were  deep 
pile  of  velvet  in  greenest  glow  under  the  light  that 
momently  left  it.     Blue  eyes  of  asters  looked  up  from 
the  tawny  grass  by  the  roadside  ;  and  a  warm,  brood 
ing  breath  of  softly  fading  things  was  abroad,  pierced 
with  the  odor  of  late  mint  steeped  in  the  sun.     She 
had  only  time  to  snatch  a  tuft  of  blossoms  as  she  went, 
and  thrust  them  in  her  hair  ;  for  was  she  not  going  to 
see  her  lover,  and  could  flowers  make  her  wait  on  the 
way  to  him  ? 

A  shadow  that  was  not  of  tree-trunks  fell  behind 
the  screen  of  a  Lirch,  and  she  grew  glad  beyond 
speaking.  He  was  looking  away,  moving  restlessly, 
till  at  her  step  his  face  brightened  kindly,  and  her  two 
hands  were  in  his. 

"  Why  didn't  you  come  sooner?  Wouldn't  the  old 
cat  let  you?" 

By  such  names  Mr.  James  used  to  speak  of  Mrs. 
Burt. 

"Would  you  want  me  here  before  you?     No,  she 


HIGH   SCANDAL  IN  NEW    CANTON.  321 

didn't  keep  me.  She's  comfortable  in  vinegar  and 
brown  paper  for  the  night,  and  won't  think  of  any 
thing  but  the  bad  taste  in  her  mouth  for  three  ctoys." 

"  How  does  Burt  live  with  such  an  apothecary's 
pet?  I  smell  rhubarb  and  senna  two  blocks  off,  when 
the  wind  is  her  way.  How  do  you  like  being  clerk  in 
that  drug-shop  ?  I  won't  have  you  scented  with  her 
herbs ;  but  you  are  sweet  as  a  rose  anyhow. 
Haven't  you  any  thing  pleasant  to  say  to  a  fellow 
who's  been  half  an  hour  looking  for  you  ?  " 

"  Then  I  haven't  been  making  myself  agreeable  to 
you  ?  Why  don't  you  set  the  example  ?  Perhaps  you 
don't  know  when  you  are  well  treated." 

"  I  should  never  find  you  any  thing  but  pleasant," 
his  voice  sinking  to  a  delicious  cadence.  "  My  poor 
little,  dear  little  girl.  She  doesn't  like  to  have  me 
call  her  poor  even  in  petting  her." 

"  I'm  rather  tired  of  being  called  poor,  seeing  I've 
been  used  to  it  all  my  life.  I'd  rather  hear  something 
else  from  you." 

"  Proud  thing  !  I  don't  blame  you.  Well,  there's 
one  man  to  whom  it  don't  make  a  straw's  difference 
whether  you  have  a  dollar  to  your  name  or  own  all  the 
scrip  in  the  New  Canton  Savings-bank.  How  nicely 
you  do  cling  to  a  person.  Don't  you  want  to  put  your 
head  where  it  was  the  other  night —  on  my  shoulder? 
It  rests  me  to  hold  it  there.  I've  got  the  sweetest 
girl  in  the  country  here,  just  as  I  like  to  have  her. 
Now  talk  to  me." 

"  There  is  too  much  to  say  for  talk." 

"Then  tell  it  some  other  way.  Shall  I  say  this, 
and  this,  —  that  you  are  the  only  girl  I  care  to  kiss 
alive,  and  I  wouldn't  take  another  world  for  her? 
You  beauty!"  (21) 


322  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  You  don't  mean  me.  You're  thinking  of  some 
other  girl." 

"  I  never  think  of  any  girl  but  you.  I  don't  want 
to  see  any  girl  but  you.  You  are  square  and  kind. 
Kiss  me,  pet,  and  help  me  to  forget." 

She  was  close  within  his  arms,  and  his  face  was 
away  from  her  ;  but  a  flood  of  pity  came  at  his  tone 
of  hurt  pride  and  mockery  at  the  old  remembrances. 
It  was  instinct  with  her  to  try  to  cheer  him  by  every 
woman's  wile  ;  and  in  such  art  she  was,  unfortunately, 
skilled  by  Nature. 

She  was  thinking  of  James,  and  feeling  as  if  she 
would  give  her  life  to  win  him  from  his  sorrow.  He 
was  hers  to  comfort  for  an  hour,  and  he  had  given  her 
liberty  to  caress  him.  She  wound  her  arms  about 
him,  as  she  would  around  a  hurt  child,  rocking  him 
gently,  touching  his  face  here  and  there  with  the  ten- 
derest  lips.  "They  should  not  use  you  so,"  she  said 
to  herself,  in  her  deep  tone  of  affection.  "  How  could 
they  ?  It  never  shall  be  again  —  never  again  !  How 
could  anybody  turn  against  you  when  you  had  loved 
them  ?  " 

"  You  know,  everybod}7  knows  about  town,  that  I 
was  to  marry  Mary  Lewis ;  but  her  old  mother  broke 
it  off.  The  girl  I  had  loved  as  long  as  I  could  re 
member,"  he  added,  with  pardonable  embellishment ; 
for,  by  long  pondering,  his  attachment  to  Mary  Lewis 
seemed  to  cover  his  whole  life. 

"Yes,  I  heard  of  it,"  she  said,  softly.  "And  I  felt 
awfully  sorry  for  you  at  the  time." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  he  said,  with  some  of  the  old  bit 
terness.  "  Everybody  in  town  knew  it,  high  and  low. 
It's  a  comfort  to  know  you've  been  in  the  town's 
mouth  for  six  months." 


HIGH   SCANDAL  IN   NEW   CANTON.  323 

"  You  mustn't  mind  it,"  Emeline  said,  gently. 
"  Everybody  said  you  had  been  badly  used,  and  you 
lost  a  bad  mother-in-law,  at  least.  How  could  any 
woman  make  a  girl  leave  you  when  she  was  promised 
to  you?" 

"  You  will  be  doing  it  some  day.  You'll  see  some 
other  man  you  like  better,  and  run  off  with  him,  and 
leave  me  to  find  it  out,"  he  said,  looking  at  the  first 
star  just  over  her  curls,  as  he  sat  enjoying  very  much 
the  innocent,  pitying  tenderness  she  gave  him.  His 
idle  speech  touched  her  more  than  he  could  have  be 
lieved.  She  put  his  arms  away,  and  looked  into  his 
face  with  eyes  of  such  intensity,  that,  whenever  he 
thought  of  that  moment,  he  seemed  to  see  them  before 
him. 

"  I  shall  never  care  for  anybody  as  I  have  cared  for 
you.  I  do  not  know  how  to  go  back  on  a  friend  ;  and, 
if  you  ever  teach  me  to  forget  you,  it  will  be  better 
for  me  that  I  had  never  been  born." 

"  When  I  lose  you,  the  best,  truest  friend  a  man 
ever  found  in  a  woman,"  he  said,  seriously,  sobered 
by  her  earnestness,  "  it  may  be  as  well  for  me  that  I 
had  never  lived." 

"  Come,  Emeline,"  he  said,  a  moment  after,  to  re 
gain  the  sportiveness  they  had  lost,  "  this  is  quite  like 
lovers.  We  agreed  once  to  be  nothing  but  good 
friends ;  but  I  don't  know  but  we  will  end  in  love, 
spite  of  ourselves." 

"  We  promised  never  to  talk  love  to  each  other," 
she  said,  simply  and  seriously,  "  and  I  shall  keep  my 
word.  I  shall  never  fall  in  love  with  you  ;  but  I  shall 
never  cease  to  love  you.  It  is  your  doing." 

"Emeline,  you  are  the  coolest  girl!     Well,  I  don't 


324  A   PAPER   CITY. 

see  any  use  in  freezing  a  fellow  with  speeches  that 
sound  like  so  much  and  mean  so  little.  Would  you 
have  the  goodness  to  tell  me  what  I  am  to  you  ?  Am 
I  your  friend  or  your  lover  or  brother  ?  Speak  frankly, 
for  once." 

"  Neither  lover  nor  brother,"  she  said,  turning  her 
eyes  large  and  clear  upon  him,  too  true,  too  full  of 
feeling  to  shrink.  Then,  with  voice  and  gesture  of 
incomparable  tenderness  and  sincerity,  "  You  are  all 
I  have  in  the  world." 

«  Emeline,  I  will  be  all  the  world  to  you,"  he  de 
clared,  carried  out  of  himself  with  this  sweet,  ardent 
attachment. 

Heaven  help  her  I 


NEW  CANTON  ENTERS  A  HIGHER  PLANE.  825 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

NEW   CANTON  ENTERS   ON  A  HIGHER   PLANE. 

THE  young  ladies  of  New  Canton  had  long  been 
of  the  opinion  that  the  place  was  dreadfully 
behind  the  times  and  hopelessly  given  over  to  money- 
grubbing.  Young  ladies  everywhere,  having  neither 
occupation  nor  experience  to  prevent  their  forming 
opinions  on  every  subject  under  the  sun,  stand  ready 
to  give  the  world  the  benefit  of  their  accumulated  wis 
dom,  and  to  take  its  administration  bodily  on  their  own 
shoulders,  and  usher  in  a  premature  millennium  at 
once.  In  New  Canton  they  contented  themselves  with 
lamenting  the  dearth  of  public  spirit  and  the  sad  fact, 
that  their  fathers  and  brothers  had  tune  to  think  of 
nothing  but  making  money.  They  forget,  that,  till  the 
money-making  mania  seized  the  place,  there  was  very 
little  means  or  chance  for  gratifying  any  one's  tastes. 
With  the  new  order,  new  ambitions  seized  its  inhab 
itants. 

In  old  times,  the  men  contented  themselves  with 
paying  their  taxes  regularly,  and  the  minister  when  it 
came  convenient,  and  allowing  their  wives  to  get  three 
or  four  dollars  out  of  their  pockets  at  a  church  fair 
once  a  year.  As  for  home  adornment,  they  put  a  new 
picket  in  the  fence  when  it  was  needed ;  and,  if  they 


326  A  PAPER   CITY. 

had  a  spare  dollar  when  a  fine-art  peddler  came  round, 
indulged  their  women-folk  with  a  big  chromo  text,  a 
wall-pocket  with  a  picture  let  in  the  front,  or  a  simi 
lar  article  of  "  bigotry  and  virtue."  But,  when  the 
dollars  came  to  have  company  and  the  wives  to  know 
of  it,  naturally  there  was  an  easier  state  of  living. 

First  came  the  carriage  mania.  Old  Simon  Wood, 
who  lived  a  mile  and  a  half  out  of  town  and  had  been 
saving  for  the  purpose  half  a  dozen  years,  bought  a 
carriage  for  his  wife  to  ride  to  meeting  in  ;  and  its 
glossy  sides  and  silver  mountings,  as  he  drove  about 
town,  were  quite  conspicuous.  Next  week,  Sherwin, 
the  express-agent ;  Dillingham,  the  shoe-man  ;  and, 
of  course,  Fitzhugh,  whose  brother  had  just  died  and 
left  him  three  hundred  dollars,  which  he  was  aching 
to  spend,  were  about  town  asking  the  prices  of  family 
carriages,  —  nothing  high-priced,  you  know,  but  some 
thing  substantial,  that  would  look  stylish  enough  to 
suit  the  times,  —  a  sort  of  carriage  a  man  would  get 
his  money  out  of.  And,  as  that  phrase  included  many 
specifications  that  agree  in  all  respects  with  the  ideas 
of  buyers  of  family  carriages,  they  are  commended  to 
the  notice  of  the  trade.  They  wanted  a  carriage  that 
you  could  drive  with  one  horse  or  two,  with  seats 
enough  for  the  whole  family  and  the  mother-in-law, 
and  one  that  a  man  could  drive  round  in  alone,  with 
out  looking  lost  in  it,  —  a  carriage  with  top  to  let 
down  and  sides  to  roll  up,  —  an  open  carriage  for 
Fourth  of  July  and  a  close  carriage  at  Thanksgiving  ; 
low  enough  for  the  wife  to  get  in  easy,  and  high 
enough  to  look  stylish  when  her  husband  drove  alone, 
and  genteel  when  the  oldest  son  wanted  to  take  his 
"girl"  in  it  to  county  fair,—  the  ideal  country  car- 


NEW   CANTON  ENTERS  A  HIGHER  PLANE.      327 

riage,  which  is  expected  to  have  as  many  excellencies 
as  a  country  minister,  to  cost  as  little  and  last  almost 
as  long.  When  Fitzhugh  and  the  rest  heard  the  price 
of  a  new  carriage  of  the  very  best  description,  of 
course  came  the  hesitating  inquiry  what  a  second 
hand  one  could  be  had  for  —  one  in  first-rate  order, 
that  looked  as  well  as  ever,  —  a  second-hand  one  that 
hadn't  been  used,  that  didn't  cost  more  than  a  quarter 
as  much  as  at  first,  and  could  be  bought  on  a  man's 
note,  with  two  years  or  so  to  pay  it  in. 

Probably,  the  wise  carriage  dealer  had  the  exact 
model  of  that  highly-desirable  class  of  vehicle  within 
his  reach ;  for,  in  six  weeks  from  the  day  old  Simon 
Wood  first  drove  down  to  the  post-office  with  his  shin 
ing  bays  and  glossy  carriage,  not  less  than  thirteen 
new  carriages,  buggies,  and  phaetons  made  their  ap 
pearance  in  the  streets.  Those  who  had  them  to  sell 
were  ready  to  dispose  of  them  on  credit,  as  the  only 
way  of  selling  them  at  all ;  and  a  good  many  notes  for 
six  and  ten  months  were  in  shrewd  hands  before  the 
month  was  out. 

The  mar.ch  of  improvement  was  on  foot.  Burt  told 
his  wife  and  Emeline,  one  night  when  he  came  home, 
that  neither  could  guess  the  latest  addition  to  the  list 
of  gentry  in  town.  Mrs.  Burt  wanted  to  know,  in 
her  matter-of-fact  way,  if  Mrs.  Paddleford  had  a 
baby. 

Burt  hoped  not,  if  the  child  would  ever  have  to  live 
to  know  its  father,  which  his  wife  thought  a  shock 
ingly-unnatural  speech. 

"  Has  Mrs.  Fitzhugh  sent  out  cards  for  a  party?  " 
asked  Emeline. 

"No,  nor  Black  Moses,  either,"  Burt  said;  "but 
the  Symmeses  were  building  a  new  house." 


328  -A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  Why,  it  was  only  last  winter  Caroline  Symmes 
wanted  to  do  over  your  shirts  to  pay  for  the  old  rock 
ing-chair  for  her  mother ;  and  Malinda  Symmes  took 
care  of  Sophia  when  she  had  that  run  of  typhoid,  and 
she  was  as  glad  as  could  be  of  one  of  Sophia's  black 
dresses  to  make  over  for  herself.  Wore  it  to  meeting 
Communion  Sunday ;  for  I  saw  it  on  her,  at  the  al 
tar,"  concluded  Mrs.  Burt,  with  this  interesting  bit 
of  contemporaneous  history. 

"  How  ever  such  folks  have  the  presumption  to 
think  of  living  in  a  good  house  passes  me,"  said  Burt, 
in  one  of  those  dry,  matter-of-fact  tones  which  his 
wife  never  suspected  were  not  entirely  in  earnest. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  but  they  may  have  as  good  a 
right  to  it,  if  they've  earnt  it,"  she  said,  in  a  calm,  ju 
dicial  tone.  "  They  came  of  a  good  family  —  cousins 
of  ex-Governor  Symmes,  out  in  New  York  State, 
brought  up,  and  went  to  the  same  school  after  he 
left  it." 

"  His  leavings  in  the  way  of  education  were  good 
enough  for  any  of  his  relations,  I  suppose,"  said  Burt, 
reflectively. 

"  I  hope  so,  Mr.  Burt,"  said  his  wife,  with  empha 
sis.  k'  Of  course,  these  Symmeses  are  not  to  be  com 
pared  with  the  higher  branch  of  the  family ;  but  I 
don't  think  it  can  be  called  presumption  if  they  have 
been  prospered  according  to  their  deserts." 

"  Meaning  the  deserts  of  their  family,"  said  Burt, 
piously.  "Emeline,  when  are  you  going  to  put  up 
your  house,  with  a  bay-window  and  a  Mansard  ?  " 

"  When  I  find  my  fortune  in  a  hollow  tree,"  said 
Emeline,  lightly. 

"  Emeline  has  too  much  sense  to  have  notions  put 


NEW   CANTON   ENTERS   A  HIGHER   PLANE.      329 

into  her  her  head.      She  knows  she  comes  of  a  differ 
ent  family,  and  her  expectations  are  different." 

Nobody  but  Mrs.  Burt  could  make  this  pharisaic 
little  speech.  Bart  looked  at  Emeline,  apprehensive 
how  the  girl  would  take  this.  Apparently,  the  deli 
cate  and  kindly  nature  of  the  remark  had  not  reached 
her  ;  for  the  smile  on  her  face  was  perfect.  No  angry 
flame  dyed  her  cheek  ;  but  a  soft  streak  of  rose  shone 
through  its  whiteness,  which  perhaps  was  clearer  than 
usual.  Burt  thought  he  had  never  seen  her  look 

better. 

«  You  are  right,  Mrs.  Burt,"  she  said,  with  a  quiet 
voice,  which  made  itself  heard  and  felt  distinctly. 
"  My  expectations  are  wholly  different  from  any  thing 
in  New  Canton." 

Mrs.  Burt  heard  the  humility  of  the  speech,  and 
approved. 

"  You  were  made  for  other  things,"  Burt  took 
up  the  parable.  "  Fix  your  mind  on  things  outside 
of  New  Canton,  Emeline.  Keep  to  your  own 

sphere." 

"Burt's  teaching  that  girl  her  proper  place," 
thought  Mrs.  Burt,  as  she  heard  it.  "  It  takes  him 
to  do  it  as  it  ought  to  be  done." 

But  it  was  a  fact,  that  the  Symmeses,  who  had  done 
odd  jobs  of  carpentering  and  mending  for  the  neigh 
borhood,  while  the  women  had  taken  in  sewing  and 
gone  out  nursing,  for  years,  had  not  saved  and  slaved 
for  nothing.  They  had  lived  in  a  small  way,  and 
eaten  mush  and  molasses  for  dinner  many  a  time  that 
nobody  knew  of ;  but  they  never  forgot  that  they  be 
longed  to  an  old  family.  So,  the  one-story  cottage, 
with  its  three  rooms,  was  raised,  and  a  front  added, 


330  A  PAPER   CITY. 

with  bay-windows   and  a  porch  as  fine  as  a  child's 
skirt,  with  wooden  frilling  and  openwork. 

Old  Browne,  of  Browne  &  Chapman,  who  had  sold 
calicoes  at  three  hundred  per  cent,  profit  most  of  his 
life,  felt  the  time  had  come  for  him  to  let  his  neigh 
bors  see  what  he  could  afford.  His  house  had  the 
roof  raised  and  plate-glass  windows  put  in,  besides 
two  verandas  and  a  Mansard,  which,  as  nothing  could 
be  seen  from  where  Browne's  house  stood,  was  con 
sidered  a  highly  appropriate  mark  of  taste. 
.  Mrs.  Fitzhugh  was  taken  with  dire  heart-burnings 
when  she  saw  the  tower  going  up,  and  made  disparag 
ing  allusions  to  the  way  Browne's  calicoes  ran  in  the 
wash,  for  three  weeks. 

The  Lymans,  Hartford  people  and  connections  of  a 
celebrated  missionary,  felt  that  it  would  hardly  credit 
the  culture  of  New  England  if  they  did  not  join  in 
the  general  renovation.  In  their  improvements,  they 
showed  the  calm  correctness  of  people  who  received 
their  ideas  on  taste,  as  on  morals,  politics,  and  educa 
tion,  at  second  hand  from  the  very  best  society.  No 
white  houses  with  mahogany-colored  doors  for  them. 
The  house  was  painted  a  chocolate  color,  with  bili 
ous  trimmings  ;  and  rustic  seats,  of  the  heaviest  and 
most  uncomfortable  pattern,  were  placed  in  the  door- 
yard,  and  remained  there  sacrifices  to  the  duty  of  or 
nament ;  for  nobody. was  ever  known  to  sit  in  them, 
there  being  a  current  impression  in  New  Canton, 
that  sitting  out  of  doors  was  showing  off,  and  was  im 
moral,  and  had  a  tendency  to  rheumatism  at  the  same 
time. 

The  building  fever  set  in  in  earnest.      Simon  Orr 
painted  his  whole  house  the  most  brilliant  white,  and 


NEW   CANTON   ENTERS   A  HIGHER   PLANE.     331 

the  blinds  Paris  green,  with  cornice  of  the  most  elab 
orate  pattern  in  the  carpenter's  book.     Bliss,  the  law 
yer,  added  a  wing  to  his  brick  house,  put  up  a  sum 
mer-house,  and  laid  out  a  garden  with  white  iron  urns 
and  two  rustic  seats,  and  hung  the  canary  out  sunny 
days,  to  look  ornamental.      Mr.  Cornelius's  daughter 
gave  him  no  rest  till  they  had  something  to  distin 
guish  their  place  too  ;  and  the  comfortable  two-story 
house  had  its  bay-window  added,  to  be  kept  hermeti 
cally  sealed  the  year  round,  and  an  octagon  porch, 
which  Mrs.  Cornelius  found  convenient  to  stand  um 
brellas  in,  wet  days,  to  let  them  drip.     In  the  poorest 
yard  were  to  be  seen  attempts  at  decoration  and  im 
provement,  such  as  trunks  of  cherry-trees  sawed  down 
and  surmounted  with  tin  pans  of  money-plant,  or  wan 
dering-Jew  as  the  imaginative  called  it ;  or  else  heaps 
of  stones   piled   in   the  front  yard,  crowned  with  a 
cracked  tureen  from  which  straggled  a  vine  somebody 
was  coaxing  to  run  over  the  rockwork.     One  of  these 
heaps  was  quite  a  success  in  its  way ;  for  the  loyal 
owner  had  trained  a  periwinkle  over  it,  and  kept  a 
plaster  bust  of  Lincoln  on  the  top  in  the  rain  and  sun. 
Such  ornaments  as  tombstones,  which  nobody  found 
time  to  put  up,  no  longer  lurked  about  front  gates  ; 
and  it  was  considered  very  ungenteel   to   hang   the 
blankets  to  air  in  sight  of  the  sitting-room  windows, 
as  formerly. 

Crockford,  a  successful  speculator,  projected  a 
house,  which  was  so  magnificent  that  it  was  consid 
ered  worthy  of  special  mention  in  the  "  Forum  :  "  — 

"  The  magnificent  mansion  to  be  erected  this  sea 
son  by  our  public-spirited  fellow-townsman,  Gen. 
Crockford,  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  leading  land- 


382  A   PAPER   CITY. 

marks  of  onr  town.  It  is  designed  to  be  one  of  the 
handsomest  houses,  not  only  in  New  Canton,  but  in 
the  entire  West ;  and  no  pains  or  expense  will  be 
spared  to  make  it  fully  equal  to  all  that  the  taste  of 
the  owner  and  the  resources  of  the  country  could  sug 
gest.  It  will  be  fifty  feet  on  side  street  and  forty  on 
the  main  front,  with  a  carriage-house  and  other  out 
buildings  to  correspond.  The  design  is  from  Wait  & 
See,  who  are  rapidly  taking  their  place  as  the  leading 
architects  of  this  section.  The  wood  for  the  fittings, 
which,  in  the  parlors  and  guest-chamber,  will  be  en 
tirely  of  walnut,  is  furnished  by  Dale  &  Petitt  from 
the  choicest  stock  they  have  on  hand  ;  while  the  door 
knobs,  bolts,  and  hinges  are  from  Davitt  &  Pettis. 
The  furniture  is,  we  learn,  being  made  to  order,  from 
Gen.  Crockford's  own  designs;  and  will  do  credit  to 
his  means  and  artistic  tastes.  All  will  join  with  us 
in  taking  a  cordial  interest  and  pride  in  the  building, 
and  wish  the  fortunate  and  worthy  owner  many  years 
of  happiness  in  his  new  domain." 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  the  daring  spirit  of  in 
novation  stopped  at  the  outside  of  houses.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  trace  the  development  of  art  in  a 
town  like  New  Canton.  Of  course,  none  of  our  pres 
ent  readers  can  remember  when  the  cheap  colored 
lithograph  was  the  popular  form  of  art,  or  I  would 
take  pleasure  in  recalling  the  pictures  of  the  slim- 
waisted  lady,  in  side  curls  and  a  violent  red  dress ; 
likewise,  the  lover,  in  blue  coat  and  high,  rolling  col 
lar,  with  an  eminent  expression  of  virtue  and  vacuity 
on  his  countenance,  posing  for  models  of  "Happy 
Love  "  or  "  The  Engagement."  "  Innocence,"  in  side 
curls,  low,  blue  velvet  bodice,  and  short  sleeves,  was 
a  favorite  exponent  of  that  charming  quality  to  rural 
minds.  Another  embodiment  of  the  genteel  and 
highly  affecting  was  "  Parting  for  the  Wars,"  in 


NEW   CANTON   ENTERS   A  HIGHER   PLANE.      333 

which  a  gallant  hero  in  a  tightly-fitting,  bright  blue 
coat,  with  yellow  epaulettes,  and  long  white  trowsers, 
very  full  and  pleated  on  the  hips,  with  flowing  sash 
and  full  side  whiskers  and  exceedingly  thin  and  square- 
toed  boots,  was  embraced  by  domestic  passion  in  the 
shape  of  a  female,  who  wore  her  features  regular  and 
her  hair  in  sympathetic  curls,  while  a  smaller  image 
of  affection,  on  her  precise  model,  was  half  way  up  his 
left  leg. 

These  naive  and  touching  scenes,  which  used  to  be 
gazed  upon  with  wet  eyes  by  appreciative  owners, 
were  in  time  displaced  by  the  annual  steel  engraving 
distributed  to  patrons  of  the  art  association,  by  which 
the  country-side  became  familiar  with  the  "  Signing 
of  the  Death-Warrant  of  Lady  Jane  Gray,"  "  Irving 
and  his  Friends,"  "  The  Jolly  Flat-Boatman,"  Peale's 
"  Court  of  Death,"  and  kindred  engravings,  whose 
worn-out  plates  could  be  purchased  easily. 

The  success  of  the  land  company  worked  a  change 
in  these  things.  Prize  chromos  and  art-association 
engravings  receded  year  by  year,  and  left  their  places 
of  honor  for  the  spare  room  upstairs  and  the  family 
sitting-room,  while  the  shilling  lithograph  fled  to  the 
hired  girl's  bedroom  and  the  playloft  over  the  stable. 
There  yet  remained  two  schools  of  taste  in  New  Can 
ton.  One  believed  nothing  was  too  good  for  it,  and 
went  in  for  the  best  that  money  could  buy  —  people 
who  furnished  in  solid  mahogany  and  walnut  burl, 
marble-topped  tables  and  broadly  gilt  mirrors  for  their 
best  rooms.  Nothing  in  design  could  be  too  bold  or 
too  complicated  for  their  notions.  Their  front  doors 
wera  gay  with  inlayings  in  red,  brown,  and  yellow 
woods,  real  and  imitation ;  their  parlor  wall-paper 


A   TAPER   CITY. 


could  not  be  too  satiny  or  too  thickly  figured  with 
gilt,  at  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  roll  ;  nor  could  the  head 
boards  of  their  beds  be  too  high  or  too  elaborately 
carved,  nor  the  center-pieces  of  their  ceilings  too  or 
nate  in  plaster  mouldings.      A  firm  article  of  their 
creed  was  a  belief  in  cornices  :  and,  accordingly,  the 
tops  of  their  walls  were  cornices  of  plaster,  fit  in  de 
sign  for  nothing  short  of  the  house  of  a  Roman  patri 
cian.      Their  windows  were  brave  in  gilt  and  walnut 
"  cornishes,"  as  they  were  popularly  called  ;  mirrors, 
dressing-bureaus,  and  washstands  were  top-heavy  with 
cornices,  if  they  had  nothing  else  to  boast.      Next  to 
this  was  their  fondness  of  having  their  "  monogram," 
as  they  called   the   single   initial  of  their  name,  on 
every  thing,  from  the  sugar-bowl  to  the  slop-pail,  so 
that  a  man  could  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  visible 
mark  of  his  ownership  on  every  appurtenance  of  his 
household.      He   impressed   his  individuality  on  his 
property,  old  Browne  said,  thinking  it  out  over  his 
fancy  borders,  as  he  hoed  and  clipped  and  watched  his 
new  geraniums  and  white  oleanders  —  the  very  last 
thing  in  the  way  of  flowers  heard  of  in  New  Canton. 

The  younger  people,  who  had  been  to  Chicago  and 
studied  the  frescoes  of  their  hotels,  thought  the  body- 
Brussels  and  gilt  wall-paper  out  of  date  ;  and  were 
all  for  "  interiors,"  with  the  wall-paper  dark  red  one- 
third  of  the  way  up  and  sage-green  the  rest,  with 
heavy,  kaleidoscopic  friezes  in  wall-paper  cut  out  by 
hand,  which  were  counted  preferable  —  why,  they 
could  not  understand,  save  that  flowers  on  wall-paper 
had  gone  out.  Young  Doctor  Mills  and  the  retired 
Professor,  who  had  been  abroad,  because  it  was  aheap, 
furnished  their  parlors  and  sitting-rooms  in  sad-col- 


NEW   CANTON  ENTERS  A  HIGHER   PLANE.     335 

orecl  stuffs,  with  walls  in  cheerful  contrast  of  choco 
late  and  dark  red  with  black  trimmings,  which  might 
have  been  acceptable  perhaps  at  Pompeii  with  the  sun 
blazing  everywhere,  but,  in  little  sixteen-foot  parlors  un 
der  a  doubtful  Illinois  sky,  were  gloomy  and  trying  to 
all  beholders.  Browne  saw,  and  approved  his  own  par 
lor,  gorgeous  in  bronze  reps  puffed  with  cherry  satin, 
with  a  big-figured,  scarlet  carpet  and  walls  paneled 
with  strips  of  gilt  paper,  like  a  saloon,  —  where  wax 
flower-baskets  and  Californian  chromos,  slim  gilt  and 
genteel  stands  with  fire-gilt  chains,  made  things  cheer 
ful  for  each  other.  The  Doctor's  rooms  and  the  Pro 
fessor's  looked  like  a  perpetual  church  fair,  with  their 
nonsense  of  brackets  and  fretwork  and  little  pictures 
and  preparations  of  nobody  and  nothing  in  particular, 
but  were  rather  forlorn  with  their  artistic  walls  ;  and 
their  wives  swept  and  dusted  with  their  own  hands, 
and  sat  down  to  making  night-clothes  for  their  little 
ones  without  the  least  feeling  like  high-toned  matrons 
or  having  one  particle  of  art  feeling  penetrate  their 
souls. 

The  second  class  of  householders  in  New  Canton 
were  people  who  alluded  to  themselves  as  berng  "  ob 
liged  to  economize,"  as  if  any  thing  else  was  ever  ex 
pected  of  them.  They  desired  to  make  up  for  less 
expense  by  more  taste,  preferred  simplicity  to  so  much 
show,  and  hoped  they  could  teach  their  children  to 
lead  a  truly  refined  and  intellectual  life  in  a  home 
where  something  was  thought  of  besides  fashion  and 
display.  "  Editha,  don't  rub  your  buttery  fingers  on 
the  whatnot !  nasty  little  thing  !  "  this  being  the  way 
in  which  Mrs.  Myra  Mold  was  heard  to  wind  up  on 
the  subject. 


336  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Mrs.  Mold  was  the  Baddloand-harnessmaker's  wife 
—  a  prosaic  connection,  as  she  felt  in  her  soul,  but  not 
without  pretensions  of  a  finer  kind.  Her  uncle  was 
editor  of  a  denominational  weekly ;  and  she  was  al 
lowed  charge  of  a  home  department,  which  she  filled 
with  compilations,  aspirations,  and  receipts,  receiving 
the  title-dignity  of  editress,  without  pay,  as  her  rela 
tive  said,  because  it  pleased  her  and  it  didn't  hurt  the 
paper  any. 

As  she  said,  Mrs.  Mold  believed  in  simplicity  above 
all  things ;  and  she  was  fond  of  writing  articles  on 
home  adornment,  where  pictures,  flowers,  a  simple 
carpet,  furniture,  and  curtains  made  up  a  home  where 
a  man  might  turn  from  the  allurements  of  brilliant 
parlors  to  find  "  true  rest  and  larger  life."  She  was 
also  fond  of  protesting  against  women  who  devoted 
themselves  to  the  care  of  the  merely  physical  wants 
of  their  families,  such  as  getting  up  good  dinners  for 
their  husbands  and  children  and  seeing  that  their 
households  were  clad  in  scarlet,  as  praiseworthy  wo 
men  have  done,  from  Sarah  down.  Mrs.  Mold  dis 
dained  the  drudgery,  which  pulled  her  down  from  her 
more  congenial  flights  ;  and  her  table  always  had  poor 
bread,  her  washing  was  irregular,  her  mending  of  the 
sketchiest  description  ;  and  her  husband  had  long  ago 
resigned  himself  to  limp  collars  and  rusty  shirt-bosoms. 
She  believed  in  "living  on  a  higher  plane"  and  de 
voting  one's  self  to  the  worship  of  "  the  good,  the 
true,  the  beautiful ;  "  and  the  meat  and  the  buttons 
might  take  care  of  themselves.  She  had  already  been 
successful  enough  in  cultivating  the  spiritual  in  her 
children  to  cultivate  one  of  them  off  the  face  of  earth, 
the  doctor  said,  for  want  of  nourishing  food  ;  and  sh'e 


NEW   CANTON   ENTERS   A   HIGHER   PLANE.     337 

was  troubled  with  a  neuralgia,  which  was  directly 
traceable  to  generations  of  failure  in  breadmaking 
and  a  systematic  preference  for  cold,  tough  meat  to 
fresh  steak,  as  being  easier  to  get  up.  She  was  a 
delicate  looking  woman,  who  was  only  hindered  from 
being  pretty  by  a  slight  pinch  in  her  aristocratic  nose, 
a  suspicious  thinness  toward  the  end  of  her  nostril, 
and  a  habit  of  keeping  her  upper  lip  screwepl  down 
tight.  She  was  the  devotee  of  simplicity  and  its  up 
holder  in  New  Canton.  Her  mantel  and  her  lace  cur 
tains  were  decorated  with  the  beauties  of  Nature,  in 
the  form  of  autumn  leaves,  dried  and  glazed,  which 
rustled  and  rattled  every  time  the  door  opened,  came 
off  inconveniently,  and  looked  like  the  falling  sick 
ness  at  any  time  of  the  year.  Her  windows  were  un 
available  for  looking  out  of,  being  full  of  plants,  that 
grew  spindling  and  ran  rnostty  to  leaf.  In  the  sunni 
est  corner  was  a  Boston  rocker,  scratched  and  bat 
tered  ;  for  Mrs.  Mold  was  not  one  of  those  house 
keepers  who  are  so  particular  about  a  scratch  or  a 
flaw  as  to  go  about  with  a  bottle  of  furniture  polish 
hunting  up  flaws.  There  were  flowers  on  a  very 
dusty  mantel,  besides  a  clock  that  did  not  go.  The 
table,  spread  with  papers  and  magazines,  was  in  one 
corner  ;  but  a  table  so  filled  may  be  rather  an  unin 
viting  object,  when  the  magazines  are  dog-eared  and 
soiled  to  a  degree  and  the  papers  show  a  liberal  al 
lowance  of  fly-specks.  The  photographs  and  water- 
colored  prints  would  have  been  seen  to  better  advan 
tage  if  they  were  hung  exactly,  and  if  a  dead  fly  or 
two  had  not  caught  himself  to  a  spider-web  under 
the  glass.  A  handsomely  bound  album,  with  verdi 
gris  on  the  clasps,  lay  on  the  little  scratched  writing- 

22 


388  A  PAPER   CITY. 

desk,  over  which  a  hanging  bookshelf  was  sadly  out 
of  line.  "  If  I  was  to  go  hunting  about  for  dust  and 
spiders,"  candidly  avowed  Mrs.  Mold,  "  or  putting 
every  thing  to  rights,  I  never  should  have  any  time 
to  myself;  and  so  I  never  see  any  thing  that  would 
offend  me." 

Mrs.  Mold  loved  the  same  simplicity  in  all  her  ar 
rangements.  If  she  had  a  friend  to  see  her  and  found 
it  more  pleasant  to  talk  with  her  than  to  look  into 
the  kitchen,  she  would  invite  her  half-famished  guest 
to  a  cabbage  soup,  with  boiled  rice  and  a  watermelon, 
as  complacently  as  if  her  bill  of  fare  was  the  most 
stimulating  to  appetite.  She  plumed  herself  on  once 
regaling  a  whole  teachers'  institute  on  mush  and  milk 
for  dinner,  with  the  supplement  of  ripe  currants,  which 
gave  a  few  of  her  amiable  guests  a  severe  pain  —  not 
in  the  brains.  Her  simplicity  of  housekeeping  led 
friends  to  be  shy  of  her  hospitality ;  as  steady-going 
people,  not  used  to  living  on  boiled  rice  and  intellect, 
found  their  health  and  spirits  depressed  by  a  longer 
sojourn  than  the  first  day.  One  look  at  the  simplicity 
of  her  spare  chamber,  with  its  "simple"  white  bed 
piled  with  brown  cotton  comforters,  the  "simple" 
washstand  garnished  with  chipped  china,  and  the 
"  simple  "  paper  spattered  and  torn,  was  enough  to 
make  one  homesick.  She  lived  in  an  ideal  world, 
constantly  posing  for  her  memoirs ;  and  the  record 
of  her  life  as  it  shaped  itself,  from  her  interior  view, 
would  have  been  one  of  devotion  to  the  noblest  aims 
and  sympathies.  Old  ladies  of  experience,  who  had 
brought  up  families,  shook  their  heads  over  Mrs. 
Mold's  goings-on  ;  and  exemplary  housekeepers  openly 
declared  her  feather-witted. 


NEW   CANTON   ENTERS   A  HIGHER   PLANE.     339 

It  happened  that  Mrs.  Mold  was  a  near  neighbor 
of  Mrs.  Burt,  and  undertook  to  cultivate  that  lady, 
whom  she  was  forced  to  drop  as  hopelessly  common 
and  wanting  in  sympathy  and  taste  —  meaning  Mrs. 
Mold's  taste.  To  see  Emeline  once  or  twice  under 
James  Gardiner's  escort  was  enough  for  the  fertile 
brain  of  this  matron.  She  at  once  set  to  work  to  find 
in  Emeline  an  uncommon  character,  —  "  absolutely  a 
genius,  you  may  say,"  — and  to  develop  an  ardent  in 
terest  in  her.  Mrs.  Mold  announced  to  herself  that 
she  meant  to  "  take  that  Butterfield  girl  up,"  to 
"  bring  her  out ;  "  as,  positively,  she  was  a  girl  to  do 
any  one  credit.  Benevolent,  seraphic  impulse  !  The 
only  trouble  being  that  Emeline  was  supremely  uncon 
scious  of  the  attempts  of  Mrs.  Mold  to  "  take  her  up,'* 
and  refused  to  read  "  Bitter  Sweet "  with  e.nthusi- 
asm ;  and,  after  one  afternoon  visit,  during  which  she 
hemmed  pillow-cases,  while  Mrs.  Mold,  with  her  hair 
pins  sticking  out  of  her  head,  read  scraps  from  her  in 
timate  friends'  letters,  and  rummaged  out  Goethe, 
Swedenborg,  and  Miss  Alcott,  and  discussed  her  own 
next  editorial  in  the  most  flattering,  genteel,  and  af 
fable  manner,  Emeline  could  never  be  induced  to 
come  into  the  room  again  while  her  airy  neighbor 
was  there.  Of  which  due  notice  was  taken  by  Mrs. 
Mold,  in  return  for  her  condescension,  the  results  of 
which  may  be  traced  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 


340  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THE   CLOUD   BIGGER  THAN   A  MAN'S   HAND. 

THE  growing  intimacy  of  James  Gardiner  with 
Emeline  Butterfield  was  commented  on  in  all 
the  circles  of  New  Canton.  It  was  discussed  in  the 
parlors,  in  the  vestibules  of  the  various  churches,  over 
kitchen  stoves,  and  across  fences.  All  the  middle- 
aged  ladies  who  had  marriageable  daughters  pro 
nounced  it  a  shame.  Mrs.  Fitzhugh  remarked  to  her 
husband,  who  was  a  cobbler  no  longer,  that,  "  when 
sich  girls  as  old  'Liph  Butterfield's  daughter  could 
take  in  sich  a  man  as  Jim  Gardiner,  there  was  a 
chance  for  Luella  Adelia  ;  "  and  Tom  Paddleford  re 
marked,  that  it  was  what  he  had  always  supposed 
would  happen.  Gardiner  was  nothing  but  a  low  fel 
low,  any  way,  —  this  with  a  wicked  glance  at  his  wife. 
Mrs.  Lewis  said  to  Mary,  after  Tom  had  left  the  room, 
that  she  might  congratulate  herself  in  having  escaped 
wretchedness  with  such  a  man. 

Col.  Peppernell  was  especially  severe  upon  Gardi 
ner,  and  more  so  upon  the  poor  girl.  He  had  at 
tempted  the  girl  himself;  and,  while  she  had  not 
given  him  the  cut  direct,  she  had  so  skillfully  avoided 
him  that  he  wisely  forbore  pursuit  of  her. 

No  such  man  is  ever  content  to  see  another  happy 


A   CLOUD   BIGGER   THAN   A  MAN'S   HAND.      341 

in  the  possession  of  that  which  he  desired  himself  and 
could  not  attain.  He  hated  Emeline  and  he  hated 
Gardiner,  and  was  willing  to  make  almost  any  sacri 
fice  to  put  gall  in  their  cup. 

He  was  standing  at  the  bar  of  the  Grand  Central, 
—  he  was  standing  there  a  great  deal  of  late,  — when 
James  and  Emeline  passed,  intent  upon  each  other. 

"  Jim  Gardiner  and  that  Butterfield  girl  are  very 
thick,"  observed  Simpson. 

"  Yes,"  said  Peppernell,  glancing  out  of  the  window 
at  the  pair,  a  redness  spreading  over  his  face  as  he 
spoke  ;  "  it's  too  bad  for  a  man  like  Jim  Gardiner, 
with  a  'spectable  fathe/and  mother,  and  with  all  sorts 
of  a  futur'  afore  him,  to  let  himself  be  so  eggerejusly 
picked  up.  It's  a  shame,  and  his  friends  ought  to  in 
terfere." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  the  girl  ? " 

"  Matter !  Great  Heavens  !  She's  old  'Liph  But- 
terfield's  daughter.  Kin  any  thing  good  come  out  of 
sich  a  family  as  that?  Take  another,  Simpson.  This 
likker  is  better  than  we  hev  got  here  lately/' 

And,  while  the  artistic  barkeeper  was  pouring  out 
and  mixing  "  another,"  the  old  sinner  went  on. 

"  She  came  here,  and  went  into  the  Continental  as 
a  waiter-girl.  You  kin  imagine  what  kind  of  a  show 
she  had  for  gittin'  out  of  that  safe." 

"You  boarded  there  at  that  time,"  said  Simpson, 
poking  him  knowingly  in  the  ribs. 

Peppernell  smiled  a  smile  indicating  that  he  knew 
more  than  prudence  would  allow  him  to  tell,  which 
was  more  damaging  to  the  girl  than  if  he  had  said  all 
his  look  implied,  and  continued :  — 

"  Then,   she   went   into  a  milliner's   shop,  —  Mrs. 


342  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

Crosby's.  Somehow,  she  didn't  stay  there.  Mrs. 
Crosby  is  very  particular  about  her  girls.  She  won't 
hev  any  immoral  or  loose  women  about  her.  Then, 
she  got  around  Mrs.  Burt,  and  hez  bin  there  ever  since. 
Of  course,  Burt  —  but  I  won't  say  any  thing  about 
him.  Only  the  girl  is  smarter  than  chain-lightnin', 
and  Burt  is  —  take  another,  Simpson.  It's  a  pleas 
ure  to  drink  De  Forest's  cocktails." 

Simpson,  the  next  time  he  saw  the  two  together, 
winked  very  wisely,  and  remarked  that  some  of  Gard 
iner's  friends  ought  to  interfere  and  save  him.  It  was 
a  shame  that  a  young  man  of  so  good  a  family  should 
be  seen  every  day  with  a  girl  old  Peppernell  had  cast 
off,  and  who  was  so  common  that  even  Mrs.  Crosby 
couldn't  have  her  about,  and  who,  if  she  didn't  make 
trouble  in  Burt's  family,  would  be  because  Mrs. 
Burt  was  too  much  taken  up  with  her  medicine  to  see 
what  was  plain  to  everybody  else. 

And,  as  Peppernell  and  Simpson  spent  much  of 
their  time  in  bar-rooms,  the  entrapping  of  Gardiner 
by  the  Butterfield  became  the  usual  topic  in  these  re 
sorts.  As  Gardiner,  before  he  cut  the  places,  had 
generally  paid  for  all  the  regular  bystanders,  he  had 
been  a  popular  man  in  the  bars  ;  and  every  member 
of  the  drinking  fraternity  felt  that  the  Butterfield 
girl  had  defrauded  him. 

Pilkin  especially  did  not  like  it,  and  he  was  very 
free  in  expressing  himself  to  that  end.  When  once  a 
man  got  to  coming  regularly  to  his  bar,  he  felt  that  ho 
had  a  mortgage  on  him  for  life,  or,  what  was  the  same 
to  him,  as  long  as  he  had  any  money  ;  and  he  took  it 
as  a  personal  affront  if  a  victim  spent  any  of  his 
means  in  any  other  way.  He  missed  the  pleasant 


A  CLOUD  BIGGER  THAN  A  MAN'S   HAND.       343 

sound  of  Jim's  voice  as  he  asked  "  the  house  up  to 

take  suthin'; "  and  he  missed  sadly  the  careless  way 

with  which  Jim  threw  down  his  money  and  the  utter 

abandon  with  which  he   swept   the  change  into  his 

pocket,  without   counting,  which  topers   who   knew 

Pilkin  better  were  always  careful  to  do. 

"I  like  a  customer  who  hez  money  and  who  hez 

been  crossed  in  love,"  said  the  philosophical  Pilkin. 

"What  do  they  keer  about  a  quarter  more  or  less  ? 

When  a  feller's  lost  his  gal,  w'at's  money  to  him  - 

till  he  get's  another  one?  " 

And  Pilkin  considered  himself  defrauded  because 

James  quit  drinking  before  he  had  squandered  what 

he  thought  himself  entitled  to. 

"The  critter  hez  gone  to  work!"    he   exclaimed. 
"Bah!" 

When  Mr.  Pilkin  discovered  that  James  Gardiner 

was  spending  his  time  with  Emeline  Butterfield,  and 
it  became  evident  that  that  young  lady  was  keeping 
him  away  from  bad  company,  he  laughed  at  the  infat 
uation  of  the  young  man,  and  he  threw  all  the  mud 
at  the  girl  he  could  lay  his  experienced  hand  on. 

"  Jim  Gardiner,  a  young  man  with  a  respectable 
father,  takin'  up  with  that  kind  uv  cattle  !  Sobriety 
develops  the  worst  elements  in  a  man.  A  waiter  at 
the  Continental !  a  daughter  uv  old  Butterfield,  who 
lay  drunk  —  not  that  there's  any  harm  in  a  man's 
takin'  his  tod,"  said  Mr.  Pilkin,  with  quick  apprecia^ 
tion  of  the  necessities  of  his  own  business.  "  The 
idee  uv  Jim  Gardiner  takin'  up  with  her  !  I  wocdent 
beleeve  it." 

All  this  and  much  more  to  his  regular  customers, 
who  hated  Jim  for  leaving  them  to  pay  for  their  own 


344  A   PAPER   CITY. 

liquor  as  viciously  as  Pilkin,  and  who  hated  the  girl 
as  the  cause. 

Each  man  who  repeated  the  story  added  to  it,  till, 
within  a  week  from  the  time  the  insinuation  left  Pep- 
pernell's  lips  and  his  eyes,  it  was  an  insinuation  no 
longer,  but  stated  and  believed,  that  poor  Emeline 
was  a  scheming,  reckless  girl;  that  she  had  flirted  with 
Peppernell  as  long  as  that  gay  old  gentleman  desired ; 
that  Mrs.  Crosby  had  actually  '"hustled  her  out" 
of  her  establishment ;  and  that  just  now  she  was 
playing  a  double  game,  being  Burt's  for  the  time,  but 
ready  to  throw  him  as  soon  as  she  could  fasten  Jim 
Gardiner,  who  could  be  married. 

It  is  astonishing  how  long  such  stories  can  circulate 
before  they  come  to  the  ears  of  those  directly  affected 
by  them.  Jim  and  Emeline,  as  innocent  as  doves, 
were  enjoying  each  other's  society,  without  knowing 
that  he  was  the  object  of  pity,  arid  she  of  suspicion 
of  every  man,  woman,  and  maid  in  the  village. 

But  Gardiner  was  very  soon  made  painfully  aware 
of  it.  His  old  friends  deserted  him,  and  became  dis 
tant  and  cold.  The  young  ladies  with  whom  he  had 
always  been  a  favorite,  despite  his  engagement  with 
Mary  Lewis,  drew  away  from  him  ;  and  the  matrons, 
who  had  always  treated  him  as  familiarly  as  their  own 
sons,  met  him  with  a  coldness  that  was  appalling. 
Finally,  his  father  and  mother  called  him  to  account. 
The  old  gentleman  reproached  him  for  throwing  him 
self  away  upon  a  "common  girl,"  who  was  the  talk 
of  the  town  and  whose  reputation  made  her  un 
fit  for  an  alliance  with  any  decent  family. 

Mrs.  Gardiner,  who  was  present,  begged  James  to 
remember  that  he  was  an  only  child,  and  that  any  dis 
grace  coming  to  him  would  kill  her. 


A   CLOUD   BIGGER   THAN  A  MAN'S   HAND. 


345 


"  Disgrace ! "    exclaimed   the   young    man,    indig 
nantly.     "  The  girl  is  as  pure  and  as  good  —  " 

«  James,"  answered  the  father,  quickly,  "  I  trust 
you  are  too  good  a  man  to  pursue  a  girl  simply  for 
your  own  amusement.  You  must  know  that  she  is 
not  a  fit  woman  for  you  to  marry.  Ask  Peppernell. 
Ask  any  one  who  keeps  the  run  of  these  wretched 
matters.  The  daughter  of  a  miserable,  ignorant 
farmer,  a  waiter  at  the  Continental,  and  a  servant  m 
Burt's  family !  She  is  common  talk  in  every  bar 
room  in  New  Canton  and  a  jest  on  the  lips  of  every 
dissolute  man  in  the  place.  James,  you  are  either 
very  much  deceived,  or  you  are  —  " 

James  did  not  wait  to  hear  the  end  of  the  sentence  ; 
but  he  rushed  out  of  the  house,  very  angry,  and 
more  determined  than  ever  to  hold  to  Emeline,  be 
cause  she  had  been  subjected  to  such  injustice  and 

cruelty. 

He  went  to  Sam  Livingston,  his  particular  friend, 

in  a  white  heat. 

"  Sam,  did  you  ever  hear  any  thing  against  the 
character  of  Emeline  Butterneld  ?  Understand  me, 
I  want  the  exact  truth." 

Livingston  looked  up  from  his  book,  and  slowly  ex 
pelled  a  volume  of  smoke,  regarding  his  friend  as  he 
would  an  escaped  lunatic. 

"What?" 

"  You  heard  my  question." 

"  Jim,  are  you  in  earnest  asking  it  ?  " 

"  Certainly  I  am,  and  a  good  deal  depends  upon  the 


answer." 


Jim,  are  you  really  struck  with  that  girl? 
"  Answer  me  what  I  asked  of  you." 


346  A  PAPER  CITY. 

"  I  supposed,  Jim,  that  you  were  amusing  yourself 
with  her,  and  several  weeks  ago  I  would  have  spoken 
to  you  about  it ;  for  I  don't  believe  it  pays  to  get  mixed 
up  with  such  people,  only  I  thought  you  were  of  age. 
But  I  see  it  is  something  more  serious.  Did  I  ever 
hear  any  thing  of  her  ?  Yes.  I  don't  know  whether 
it  is  true  or  not,  —  for  any  practical  purpose  it  makes 
no  difference,  —  but  I  have  heard  every  thing  of  her. 
Old  Peppernell  is  credited  with  knowing  a  great  deal 
too  much  of  her,  and  so  are  a  great  many  other  fel 
lows  here.  Even  the  immaculate  Burt  has  not  es 
caped  being  linked  with  her  ;  and  you  can  —  no,  you 
can't,  fo"r  they  are  too  considerate  to  talk  in  your 
presence  —  but  any  one  else  can  hear  all  the  details 
any  night  in  any  bar-room  in  the  city,  with  as  much 
pity  for  yourself  as  you  could  desire.  Jim,  she  is 
town  talk.  Now  you  know  all  about  it.  I  wouldn't 
have  told  you,  but  you  insisted  on  it." 

Gardiner  left  his  friend,  and  rushed  back  to  his 
room,  in  a  rage  with  himself  and  the  world. 

44  We  are  the  town  talk,  are  we?  I'll  end  that  by 
marrying  her  to-morrow,  and  then  we  will  see  who 
dares  to  talk." 

He  went  to  see  her,  and  stayed  late  with  her ;  but 
she  noticed  that  he  was  absent-minded.  When  they 
walked  she  noticed  that  he  took  streets  that  were 
lonely  and  not  frequented,  and  looked  nervous  if  he 
saw  any  one  they  were  likely  to  meet. 

He  slept  over  it,  and  the  next  morning  gave  it  an 
other  good  hour  of  thought.  Marry  her!  Of  course 
he  would.  He  wouldn't  be  so  craven  as  to  let  the 
gabble  of  a  lot  of  cocktail-drinkers  and  gossips  stand 
between  him  and  his  happiness.  But  then  — 


OF 
A  CLOUD   BIGGER   THAN   A   MAN'S   HAND.       347 

How  would  it  answer  for  him  to  have  for  a  wife  a 
woman  who  would  go  into  his  circle  with  a  smirched 
name  ?  How  would  it  do  to  have  a  wife  who  had 
been  charged  with  being  the  intimate  of  a  man  so 
thoroughly  debased  as  Peppernell  ?  How  would  it 
answer  for  him,  with  her  hanging  on  his  arm,  to  meet 
the  old  boarders  of  the  Continental,  who  had  been 
served  by  her  when  she  was  a  waiter  at  that  hostelry  ? 
In  short,  how  could  he  meet  the  cruel  snubs  of  the 
women  and  the  covert  sneers  of  the  men  with  whom 
he  must  live. 

Fight  it  out !  Unfortunately  for  such  cases,,  there 
is  no  enemy  to  fight  that  can  be  seen  and  met.  You 
may  resent  a  blow  ;  but  you  can't  quarrel  with  a  wo 
man  who  avoids  your  wife,  if  she  does  it  politely 
enough.  You  can't  quarrel  with  a  man  because  his 
wife  does  not  invite  your  wife  to  her  teas,  nor  can  you 
make  trouble  at  gatherings  where,  though  you  can't 
help  being  admitted,  your  wife  is  left  to  herself. 

Poor  Emeline  !  While  these  thoughts  were  passing 
through  the  mind  of  a  man  you  loved  with  all  the 
singleness  of  a  great,  true  nature,  you  were  planning 
how  best  to  please  him.  You  were  thinking  which 
of  your  two  dresses  to  wear  to  meet  him  that  even 
ing,  and,  having  decided,  were  arranging  your  one 
hat  in  a  more  becoming  way,  and  putting  a  bow  on 
your  dress  here  and  there,  to  be  more  pleasant  in  his 
eyes.  She  re-read  a  passage  from  an  author  favorite 
with  him,  in  which  she  thought  she  had  found  a  new 
meaning,  that  might  interest  him. 

She  waited  that  night  for  him,  but  she  waited  in 
vain.  In  vain  was  the  little  ornamentation  of  the 
dress,  the  freshening  of  the  hat,  the  reading  of  the 


348  A   PAPER  CITY. 

favorite  author,  and  the  preparation  for  the  delightful 
discussion  to  follow. 

Eight,  nine,  and  ten  passed  (he  had  sometimes  been 
delayed  and  came  as  late  as  ten)  ;  but,  when  the  weary 
hands  crept  on  till  eleven,  and  he  did  not  come,  she 
went  to  her  bed,  heartsick  and  frightened. 

He  had  started  to  se'e  her,  and  had  gone  nearly  to 
the  house,  thinking  all  the  way  of  what  Sam  Living 
ston  had  told  him  ;  and,  as  he  neared  the  door  and  was 
ready  to  give  the  usual  signal  for  her  to  come  out  and 
join  him,  he  felt  that  to  walk  with  her  again  and  take 
the  chances  of  meeting  any  one  would  be  adding  fuel 
to  the  flame  of  scandal  that  was  burning  into  his  very 
soul.  "  Peppernell's  girl "  hanging  on  his  arm  and 
looking  up  into  his  eyes !  The  "  scullion  "  (he  had 
heard  that  word  used  in  connection  with  her  name) 
of  the  Continental  with  him,  and  the  whole  town 
sneering  at  him ! 

To  do  him  justice,  he  did  not  believe  one  word  of 
the  stories  that  were  in  circulation  about  her  ;  for  he 
knew  her  to  be  as  pure  and  as  devoted  to  him  as  a 
woman  could  be.  He  knew  Peppernell  was  a  bloated 
old  liar  —  a  Falstaff  without  FalstafFs  humor, —  that 
all  his  vaporing  had  come  partly  from  malice  and 
partly  from  his  vanity  to  be  considered  a  successful 
wicked  man,  and  that  all  the  other  stories  were  merely 
offshoots  from  the  accumulation  of  a  lie,  which  cer 
tainly  does  gather  as  it  rolls. 

But,  lies  though  they  were,  he  knew  they  would 
stick  like  burrs,  and  that,  even  if  he  undertook  to 
live  them  down,  they  would  still  be  believed  ;  and  that 
all  the  credit  she  would  get  for  years  of  a  blameless 
life  would  be  the  credit  either  of  a  repentant  woman, 


A  CLOUD   BIGGER   THAN  A  MAN'S   HAND.       349 

or  an  artful  one  who  had  no  further  necessity  for  sin 
ning. 

Could  he  afford  all  this?  Should  he  go  and  throt 
tle  Peppemell,  and  cram  the  lie  down  his  throat,  and 
make  him  acknowledge  that  he  had  slandered  her  ? 
That  would  do  very  well  so  far  as  silencing  one  liar. 
But  would  it  stop  the  rest,  or  would  it  alter  the  opin 
ion  of  the  others?  He  could  not  answer  all  these 
questions  satisfactorily  ;  but  he  did  not  go  and  see 
her  that  night. 


350  A  PAPER  CITY. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

EMELINE  AND   JIM. 

FOUR  days  passed,  and  James  Gardiner  did  not 
come  near  Emeline  Butterfield.  Every  night 
he  intended  to  go  to  her,  every  night  he  had 
started ;  but  every  time  he  started,  the  terrible  words 
"Peppernell's  girl,"  "waiter  at  the  Continental," 
came  to  him  like  disquieting  ghosts,  and  drove  him 
back.  He  was  not  in  a  comfortable  frame  of  mind. 
He  felt  and  knew  that  he  was  acting  the  coward.  He 
felt  and  knew  that  the  girl  was  as  pure  as  a  snow- 
flake,  and  that  every  word  that  had  been  said  against 
her  was  a  cruel  slander.  He  knew  that  she  was  as 
much  superior  to  the  women  who  were  hunting  her 
down  as  strength  is  to  weakness,  as  refinement  is  to 
vulgarity,  and  that  she  was  the  most  fit  woman  for 
him  he  had  ever  met. 

But  there  came  into  his  mind  the  sneers  of  his  fel 
lows,  the  blind  prejudice  of  his  good  old  father  and 
his  dearly  loved  mother,  and  the  sickening  thought  of 
the  life  of  struggle  he  should  have  to  force  and  hold  a 
position  for  her  in  the  little  world  where  he  lived,  or 
(should  he  not  make  the  fight)  the  utter  and  entire 
seclusion  he  would  have  to  content  himself  with  for 
her  sake. 


EMELINE  AND   JIM.  351 

Nevertheless,  the  fifth  evening  he  did  go  to  see  her. 
She  had  waited,  night  after  night,  with  a  cold  fear  of 
impending  disaster,  all  the  more  terrible  because  she 
did  not  know  from  what  direction  trouble  was  com 
ing,  and  could  make  no  preparation  to  meet  it.  She 
waited,  with  the  fear  oppressing  her;  and  her  cheeks 
lost  their  roses,  and  her  eye  its  brightness.  She 
moved  about  the  house  mechanically,  like  one  in  a 
dream  ;  and,  though  she  did  her  duties,  it  was  with 
out  the  intelligence  or  readiness  of  former  days. 

Mrs.  Burt  noticed  the  change,  and  insisted  on  her 
taking  taraxicum  three  times  a  day.  Mr.  Burt  knew 
the  reason,  and  knew  it  was  a  matter  that  no  medica 
ment  could  reach ;  and  the  sight  of  the  girl's  pale  face 
and  wearied,  worried  look  hardly  displeased  him  as  it 
should  have  done. 

James  came,  and  how  gladly  she  rushed  to  meet 
him  !  His  presence,  his  kind,  loving  words,  the  pres 
sure  of  his  arm,  and  his  lips  against  hers  was  all  that 
was  needed  to  bring  the  vanished  roses  to  her  cheeks 
and  set  the  heart  of  the  impulsive,  loving  girl  at  rest. 
But  very  little  comfort  did  she  get  of  him  that 
night.  He  kissed  her  with  more  tenderness  than  ever, 
and  looked  upon  her  so  kindly  and  yet  so  pityingly 
that  she  drew  away  from  him. 

"  Jim !    dear  Jim !    what  is  the  matter  ?     Why  do 
you  look  at  me  so  ?     I  can't  understand  you." 
"  Nothing,  darling.     Nothing." 
And  then  he  relapsed  into  silence,  and  they  walked 
some  distance  before  he  spoke. 

She  said  nothing,  though  a  strange  fear  was  tug 
ging  at  her  heart  and  she  was  dying  to  know  what 
was  before  her.  That  never-erring  instinct  which 
every  woman  has,  told  her  that  there  was  something. 


352  A  PAPER  CITY. 

"  Why  have  you  kept  away  from  me  so  long,  Jim  ? 
I  have  waited  for  you  four  nights,  and  it  made  me 
sick,  almost.  I  am  so  glad  that  you  came  to-night ! 
I  should  have  been  sick  in  earnest  if  you  had  disap 
pointed  me  again.'* 

Should  he  tell  her  and  break  with  her  that  night  ? 
Could  he  tear  himself  away  from  her,  and  go  back  to 
his  old  associates  ?  On  the  one  side  was  the  sweet 
girl,  who  loved  him  to  distraction  and  who  was 
worthy  of  him  or  any  man;  and,  on  the  other,  were 
his  ambitions  and  all  that  is  first  in  most  men's  minds. 
He  determined  to  tell  her  the  truth,  and  tear  himself 
away,  never  to  see  her  again ;  but,  just  as  the  words 
came  to  his  lips,  the  moon  sailed  out  from  under  a 
cloud  and  baptized  her  lovely  face  in  a  glory.  He 
looked  down  into  her  eyes,  and  read  there  truth,  de 
votion,  loyalty,  every  thing  that  a  man  should  love  and 
cling  to  in  a  woman.  The  cruel  words  that  spoke  a 
divorce  between  him  and  so  much  that  was  good 
froze  on  his  lips.  Instead  of  speaking  them,  he  bent 
his  face  down  to  her's,  and  kissed  her  with  an  inten 
sity  that  was  all  the  more  fervent  because  it  had  cost 
him  something  to  do  it. 

From  that  moment  he  was  himself  again.  He 
talked  with  her  as  he  had  before  the  cruel  slanders 
had  shaken  his  devotion  to  her.  She  quoted  the  pas 
sage  from  his  author  in  which  she  thought  she  had 
discovered  a  new  meaning,  and  was  delighted  beyond 
telling  to  find  that,  when  she  had  made  it  clear  to 
him,  he  saw  it  as  she  did.  After  an  hour  of  most  de 
lightful  converse,  he  had  forgotten  the  terrors  that 
had  beset  him  and  was  himself  again. 

Happy  souls !     There  was  nothing  but  love  between 


EMELINE  AND   JIM.  353 

them,  and  he  was  entranced  as  he  had  been  an  hun 
dred  times  before.  He  felt  that,  for  the  sake  of  the 
love  of  such  a  girl,  he  could  face  all  the  gossiping  cats 
of  women  and  all  the  blackguard  men  in  the  world, 
and  all  the  fathers  and  mothers  too.  Father!  Let 
this  delightful  being  get  the  right  to  be  to  his  father 
what  she  was  to  him !  Mother  !  Let  but  Emeline  get 
the  privilege  to  be  near  her  !  He  had  no  fears.  He 
felt  a  strange  lightness  of  heart  at  being  so  well  out 
of  his  troubles;  that  is,  having  his  duty  and  his  in 
clination  jump  so  nearly  together. 

They  walked  on.  He  did  not  avoid  the  frequented 
streets  that  night ;  for  the  delight  of  having  her  so 
close  to  him  and  having  so  much  faith  in  her  gave 
him  a  courage  which  he  had  not  felt  since  he  had 
absented  himself  from  her.  He  turned  into  the  main 
street,  and  was  passing  with  her  on  his  arm,  she  lean 
ing  closely  to  him  and  both  oblivious  of  where  they 
were  or  whom  they  might  expect  to  meet,  when  they 
came  full  upon  a  party  issuing  from  the  "  Gem  "  sa 
loon,  and  all  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  li 
quor.  Peppernell  was  in  it ;  Tom  Paddleford  — who, 
since  his  marriage,  could  be  found  there  every  night 
—  had  the  old  reprobate's  arm,  and  straggling  along 
with  them  were  a  dozen  of  the  most  dissolute  young 
and  old  men  of  the  town. 

Gardiner  saw  them,  and  would  have  shrunk  away  ; 
but  it  was  impossible,  without  showing  that  he  did 
not  want  to  meet  them,  and  he  was  too  much  of  a 
man  to  do  that.  He  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  hight, 
instead  of  the  bending  position  he  had  been  walking 
in,  and,  with  his  face  straight  in  front  of  him,  walked 
past  the  crowd.  The  girl,  who  saw  the  party,  under- 

23 


354  A  PAPER   CITY. 

stood  his  change  and  tried  to  avoid  contact  with  them; 
but  one  or  two  of  them  brushed  against  her,  as  they 
passed  on  the  narrow  plank  walk.  She  shuddered  in 
stinctively.  They  were  her  death,  though  she  did  not 
know  it.  As  they  passed,  Gardiner  heard  a  hoarse, 
mocking  wheeze  from  Peppernell's  whisky-scarred 
throat,  and  a  jeering  laugh  which  he  recognized  as 
coming  from  Paddleford,  and  thought  he  distinguished 
his  own  name  and  Emeline's  in  the  jeers.  Angry  and 
in  rage,  had  he  been  alone,  he  would  have  gone  back 
and  demanded  the  cause  of  the  laughter ;  but,  with 
the  girl  on  his  arm,  what  could  he  do  ?  She  had  some 
idea  of  what  it  meant ;  but,  frightened  and  afraid  of, 
she  knew  not  what,  she  clung  close  to  him  and  said 
nothing. 

She  was  not  surprised,  though  she  felt  hurt,  when, 
at  the  next  corner,  he  left  the  main  street,  and  turned 
down  a  street  where  they  would  not  be  likely  to  meet 
any  one. 

They  came  near  to  Mr.  Burt's  house,  her  home. 
He  stopped  suddenly,  and,  releasing  her  arm,  turned 
his  face  full  upon  her. 

The  moon  was  shining  at  its  full,  and  she  could  see 
that  he  was  terribly  agitated. 

"  James  !"  she  spoke,  in  alarm  at  the  agony  which 
a  less  acute  woman  could  see  plainly  in  his  face. 

"  Em,  tell  me  and  tell  me  the  truth.  Did  you  ever 
give  those  ruffians  any  cause  to  laugh  as  they  did 
when  they  passed  us  ?  Did  you  ever  —  " 

All  was  clear  to  the  poor  girl  now.  She  knew  the 
enemy  she  had  to  contend  with,  and  exactly  what  the 
struggle  meant.  She  knew  that  James  Gardiner,  the 
only  son  of  the  best  man  of  New  Canton  and  the  most 


EMELINE   AND   JIM.  355 

promising  man  in  the  village,  had  been  jeered  at  and 
laughed  at  for  taking  up  with  one  who  had  come  from 
a  questionable  family,  who  had  been  a  waiter  in  a  ho 
tel,  and  who  was  now  a  servant  in  a  family. 

Stunned,  —  for,  in  her  pure  love  and  her  unselfish 
devotion  to  the  man  she  loved,  the  idea  that  she  was 
not  fit  for  him  had  never  occurred  to  her,  —  she  choked, 
and  could  make  no  answer  ;  but  tears  came,  and  she 
leaned  her  head  upon  his  broad  shoulder,  and,  feeling 
the  utter  desolation,  the  utter  helplessness  of  her  po 
sition,  sobbed  as  though  her  heart  would  break. 

It  was  the  worst  answer  she  could  have  made. 

"  Emeline,"  he  said,  sternly,  "  answer  me.  Yes  or 
no?" 

"  Never  !  "  she  replied,  with  a  sob. 

"Did   that   old  brute,  Peppernell,  ever   approach 

you?" 

"  He  did." 

"  When  ? " 

"  When  I  was  in  the  Con —  " 

The  hot  young  man,  drawn  one  way  by  his  love  for 
a  girl  and  another  by  his  pride,  disengaged  his  arm 
from  and  stood  facing  her,  angry  with  her,  himself, 
and  all  the  world. 

"Ever  since  ?" 

"  James,  what  do  you  mean  ?  I  have  told  you  the 
truth.  I  was  alone  and  helpless.  I  could  not  avoid 
these  men.  They  made  advances  to  me  there,  because 
I  was  there  ;  and  Peppernell  afterward,  because  I  was 
Burt's  servant,  I  suppose.  Men  feel  that  they  have  a 
right  to  insult  a  helpless,  lone  girl,  Avho  has  no  one  to 
protect  her.  But,  as  God  is  my  judge,  never  one  of 
them—  " 


356  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  I  believe  you,  Emeline  ;  but  we  won't  talk  of  this 
any  further  to-night.  Go  in,  darling.  I  am  very 
much  troubled.  I  do  believe  you,  and  —  " 

She  did  not  hear  him  out ;  for,  having  regained  her 
self-possession,  her  strength  came  to  her,  and,  without 
a  word,  without  even  a  good-night  kiss,  she  threw  her 
self  inside  the  gate  and  into  the  house. 

James  Gardiner  paused  a  moment,  as  the  girl  disap 
peared,  and  walked  away  ill  at  ease.  He  could  not 
bring  himself  to  part  with  the  girl,  for  he  loved  her 
devotedly.  But  she  was  old  'Liph  Butterfield's 
daughter,  she  had  been  a  waiter-girl  at  the  Conti 
nental,  and  she  was  Burt's  servant.  Disguise  the 
position  as  "  companion,"  it  was  all  the  same.  She 
was  Burt's  servant,  on  a  stipend  payable  weekly,  — 
an  upper  servant,  but  a  servant  all  the  same  ;  and,  as 
'Liph  Butterfield's  daughter,  as  a  waiteress  at  the 
Continental,  and  as  Burt's  servant,  every  low  fellow  in 
the  village  had  been  privileged  to  speak  to  her  famil 
iarly,  to  make  advances  to  her ;  and  she  had  confessed 
that  Peppernell,  the  most  odious  man  in  the  town,  had 
actually  approached  her.  And  no  one  knew  better 
than  Gardiner  what  that  meant. 

Then,  came  into  his  mind  another  ignoble  thought. 
He  hated  Burt,  as  any  open  man  hates  one  whom  he 
believes  to  be  a  hypocrite  and  a  sham  ;  and  he  remem 
bered  how  anxious  he  had  been  to  take  her  out  of 
Mrs.  Crosby's  into  his  own  family.  He  knew  how  little 
there  must  be  in  common  between  a  man  like  Burt 
and  a  woman  like  his  wife ;  and  he  had  seen  enough 
of  Emeline 's  influence  in  the  house  to  know  that  she 
controlled  it :  and  the  sickening  suspicion  came  into 
his  mind,  that  perhaps  Burt,  the  sanctimonious  Burt, 


EMELINE    AND   JIM.  357 

had  his  own  end  in  view,  and  that  he  had  been  made 
a  double  fool  of, — that  Burt,  after  Peppernell,  had 
tired  of  her,  and  that  he  was  to  take  a  girl  who  had 
been  twice  a  cast-off. 

He  did  not  believe  all  this.  But  it  all  came  into 
his  mind  as  possibilities ;  and,  dwelling  on  it  in  a  jeal 
ous,  frantic  way,  possibilities  grew  into  probabilities, 
and,  before  he  slept,  the  possibilities  had  with  him  be 
come  almost  certainties.  His  dreams  were  terrible. 
He  saw  Emeline  with  the  greasy  Peppernell,  he  saw 
her  with  the  equally  odious  Burt ;  and  he  waked  half- 
crazed. 

And  this  fact  impressed  him  :  innocent  or  guilty, 
good  or  bad,  his  people  and  the  town  would  hold  her 
guilty. 

•  Emeline  left  him  in  that  flush  of  indignation  which 
any  woman  feels  at  being  suspected,  when  she  has 
given  no  cause  for  it.  Was  it  for  this  that  she  had 
given  this  man  all  there  was  of  her  nature  ?  Was  it 
for  this  that  she  had  loved  him  so  unselfishly,  and 
had  compromised  herself  for  him  ?  For,  in  repulsing 
Peppernell,  she  felt  herself  acquitted  and  in  a  strong 
position  ;  but,  in  loving  one  above  her  station  and 
showing  that  love  as  unreservedly  as  she  had  done, 
she  had  given  the  gossips  a  right  to  trifle  with  her 
good  name. 

"  I  have  sacrificed  more  than  he  has  !  "  she  cried,  in 
agony.  "  He  can  afford  it ;  I  cannot." 

She  felt  outraged  that  he  should  ask  her  such  ques 
tions,  or  that  he  should  let  any  doubt  of  her  come  into 
his  mind.  He  knew  before  he  approached  her  whose 
daughter  she  was,  how  she  came  to  New  Canton,  and 
all  about  it.  He  knew  that  she  had  been  at  the  Con- 


368  A   PAPER   CITY. 

tinental,  that  she  had  been  at  Mrs.  Crosby's,  that  she 
was  at  Burt's,  —  before  he  had  ever  spoken  to  her. 
Why  did  he  come  to  her,  and  —  why  did  he  throw 
himself  in  her  way?  Why  did  he  make  her  love  him, 
till  he  was  her  world,  —  all  that  was  worth  any  thing 
in  it,  —  if  he  did  not  intend  to  take  her  just  as  she 
was  and  precisely  as  he  found  her? 

Worthy  of  him  !  She  felt  that  she  was  the  better 
of  the  two,  and  that,  in  the  life-struggle  that  comes  to 
every  one,  she  could  be  of  more  help  to  him  than  he 
could  be  to  her.  She  knew  her  strength;  and  she 
knew,  what  evidently  he  did  not,  her  integrity. 

And,  with  a  feeling  that  she  had  been  outraged, 
that  the  world  was  very  cruel  to  one  who  was  simply 
doing  her  best  and  who  deserved  better  of  it  than  she 
was  likely  to  get,  she  fell  into  a  troubled  slumber. 

What  were  her  dreams  ?  Not  pleasant  ones.  She 
saw  James  before  her,  and  reached  out  her  hands  im 
ploringly  to  him.  But  there  came  between  her  and 
him  the  forms  of  Peppernell,  with  his  coarse,  brutal 
laugh  ;  Paddleford,  with  his  rat-like  grin  ;  Burt,  with 
his  smooth  presence ;  and  another  shadow,  not  well 
enough  denned  to  strike  at  and  kill,  but  stronger  than 
all  the  rest  —  public  opinion. 

She  woke  from  her  miserable  sleep  a  changed  wo 
man.  She  had  lost  her  love,  and  gained  what  did  not 
become  her  so  well — ambition.  Gone  was  the  soft 
ness  and  sweetness  that  sat  so  lovingly  upon  her :  in 
its  place  there  came  a  hard,  stern  determination  that 
the  qualities  she  knew  she  had  should  be  used  here 
after  for  herself  and  no  one  else.  And,  thus  filled, 
she  found  she  could  remember  her  lover's  weakness 
without  despair  and  even  without  a  pang.  Life  had 
something  in  it  to  her  beside  him. 


EMELINE   AND   JIM.  359 

The  next  morning,  James  Gardiner  was  walking 
toward  his  office,  still  troubled  and  worried.  He 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  leave  Emeline  ;  for 
he  loved  her,  and  without  her  life  looked  cheerless 
enough.  Nor  could  he  prevail  upon  himself  to  face 
what  he  knew  he  would  be  compelled  to.  If  he  mar 
ried  her,  he  could  not  take  her  and  leave  New  Can 
ton  ;  for  he  could  riot  leave  his  father  and  his  mother 
in  their  old  age,  he  being  their  only  stay.  Besides, 
he  knew  that  change  of  place  makes  no  difference  in 
sucli  cases.  Emeline's  misfortunes  would  follow  her 
to  the  end  of  the  earth. 

Thus  torn  and  troubled,  he  met  Mary  Paddleford, 
for  the  first  time  since  her  marriage.  When  he  had 
seen  her  coming,  he  had  always  avoided  her,  as  he 
would  have  done  now  had  he  seen  her  soon  enough. 
But,  wrapped  in  thought  and  walking  with  his  head 
down,  he  did  not  notice  her  till  she  was  too  close  to 
avoid  recognition.  He  bowed,  and  passed  without 
saying  a  word. 

He  knew,  what  all  New  Canton  knew,  that  Mary 
Paddleford  and  her  husband  were  not  living  happily 
together :  he  had  heard  it  said  that  Tom  so  far  in 
dulged  his  natural  tendency  for  meanness  as  to  beat 
her ;  and,  as  he  passed,  she  looked  so  sorrowful,  so 
sad,  so  utterly  miserable  that  he  changed  his  mind, 
and  turned  to  speak  to  her.  She  had  also  stopped,  as 
if  in  hope  that  he  would  turn. 

"  Mary  !  " 

It  was  the  old  tone,  softened  by  grief,  and  kindly, 
but  with  the  slightest  tinge  of  reproach  in  it. 

In  a  frightened  way,  as  if  to  see  if  any  one  was  ob 
serving  them,  she  came  back  to  him. 


360  A   PAPER   CITY. 

"  What  do  you  look  so  frightened  for  ?  Is  any  one 
watching  you  ?  Are  you  afraid  to  speak  to  me  on  the 
street  ?  "  was  his  exclamation. 

"  Oh  !  Jim,  if  Tom  should  see  me  speaking  to  you, 
or  know  that  I  had,  he  would  kill  me  !  " 

"  Kill  you  for  speaking  to  an  —  old  friend  ?  Mary  ! 
What  is  this  ?  " 

He  noticed  a  blue-black  spot  on  her  face  just  where 
the  hair  joined  the  skin  over  her  temple. 

44  Don't  ask  me,"  she  replied,  shivering  with  terror  ; 
"  and,  Jim,  don't  talk  to  me  any  more.  I  am  afraid. 
I  —  I — am  very  miserable.  But,  Jim,  I  wanted  to 
say  to  you  that  it  was  not  my  fault  that  I  married 
him.  I  could  not  help  it.  I  did  not  dare  to  tell  you 
why,  and  I  had  to  let  you  go  thinking  I  was  heartless 
and  cruel  and  fickle.  But  I  was  not.  Ma  forced  me. 
Why,  you  will  know  some  day.  I  did  wrong  in  yield 
ing  to  her.  But,  Jim,  I  am  paying  for  it.  I  am 
thoroughly  miserable  ;  and,  if  I  dared,  I  would  kill 
myself,  and  end  it.  Don't  speak  to  me  any  more.  I 
just  wanted  to  say  this  to  you,  and  say  that  I  care  for 
you  now  as  much  as  ever.  But  never  speak  to  me 
again." 

And,  with  the  same  frightened  look,  she  hurried 
away. 

Gardiner  looked  at  the  poor  woman,  as  she  moved 
away  from  him,  and  something  of  the  old  feeling  for 
her  came  back  to  him. 

The  sad  look  on  her  face  haunted  him  and  stayed 
with  him  all  the  day.  At  every  turn  he  saw  her  tear 
ful  eyes  looking  appealingly  into  his  ;  and,  loving  Eme- 
line  Butterfield  as  he  did,  he  felt  half  angry  with  him 
self  that  he  had  permitted  his  first  love  to  be  sacrificed 
without  a  struggle  for  her. 


EMELINE   AND   JIM. 

"I  could  have  married  her.  Emeline,  never!" 
he  said  to  himself  a  hundred  times.  And,  locking 
himself  in  his  office,  he  undertook  the  hardest  task 
man  ever  takes,  that  of  obtaining  control  of  him 
self. 


362  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

ONE  NAIL    DRIVES   ANOTHER   OUT. 

THE  sunny  afternoon  had  been  quenched  in  rain. 
Not  a  storm  that  smote  the  levels  in  wrath  and 
sent  the  dying  flowers  to  wreck  and  ruin  ;  but  a  miltU 
low-whispering,  sighing  rain,  that  melted  out  of  the 
soft  gray  sky,  and  forebore  to  call  notice  to  its  griev 
ing  over  the  pale  herbs  and  faded  flowers.  It  was  a 
time  when  stirring,  ever-busy  housekeepers  sat  snug 
at  their  endless  sewing,  with  gossiping,  bright-witted 
girls  around  them, — when  farmer  brothers  found 
time  to  read  newspapers  up  garret,  as  by  stealth,  rev 
eling  in  speeches  of  "  our  member,"  which  stirred  their 
untouched  enthusiasms  to  high  flame  ;  or  wrapped  in 
romances,  which  taught  them  emotions  they  secretly 
resolved  to  test  for  themselves  ere  long,  —  afternoons 
when  they  paid  attentions  to  the  state  of  their  front 
hair,  and  stole  off  by  the  back  door  to  the  next  neigh 
bor's,  whose  daughter  happened  to  wear  an  interest 
for  them,  —  days  when  the  old  farmers  were  gra 
ciously  willing  to  harness  the  team,  and  go  to  town 
for  a  can  of  baking-powder,  a  stint  of  sugar,  or  such 
trifling  errand  as  ^the  weekly  mail,  which  in  better 
weather  was  an  impertinent  interruption.  Long  er 
rands  they  made  of  those  half-pint  cans  or  those  gal- 


ONE   NAIL  DRIVES   ANOTHER   OUT.  8G3 

Ions  of  kerosene  that  detained  them  in  the  safe  end  of 
Paddleford's  store,  which  had  not  modern  impatience 
of  its  customers,  till  long  past  dinner  time.  It  was  a 
pleasant,  neighborly  rain,  too  wet  to  work  in,  but  not 
enough  to  hinder  crossing  a  field  or  so  to  sit  an  after 
noon  and  sew  a  long  seam. 

The  easy,  half-humorous  temper  of  the  Burt  house 
hold  was  overcast.  Mrs.  Burt  did  not  understand  it, 
but  laid  the  blame  comfortably  on  her  husband-  and 
Emeline's  ill-judged  levity,  which  must  have  its  downs 
to  pay  for  running  on  such  a  high  key.  She  had  fid 
geted  round  a  day  or  two,  and  went  off  to  her  sister's 
one  evening  when  it  slacked  up,  Emeline  thought,  out 
of  especial  consideration  for  her.  Now,  she  could 
have  her  funeral  in  her  heart,  and  weep  her  grief  out 
unrestrainedly. 

She  was  not  one  of  the  sort  to  cry  outwardly.  She 
wept  one  fatal  night  three  dreary  hours,  till  the  sluices 
of  her  grief  were  drained.  After  that  her  eyes  were 
too  tender,  her  frame  too  weary  to  cry  any  more.  But 
the  wound  within  began  the  intolerable  ache  which 
makes  every  day  and  hour  full  of  pain.  It  bled  in- 
wardty,  and  the  midnights  passed  with  moans  and  hot 
fights  with  pain.  It  was  too  soon  for  grief  to  whiten, 
the  roses  of  her  cheeks,  Or  give  her  pale  and  sodden 
features,  such  as  are  worn  by  those  with  whom  sorrow 
has  become  a  habit  ;•  but  a  close  observer  could  see 
that  the  roses  on  her  cheek  were  whitened,  the  lines 
growing  sharp,  and  the  eye  fixed  and  mournful  at  its 
best.  She  went  about  her  tasks  mechanically,  like 
one  whose  body  keeps  a  habit  of  activity,  that  re 
leases  the  mind  all  the  more  to  suffer.  And  all  the 
time  the  woman  was  looking  on  the  face  of  her  dead 
happiness. 


364  A  PAPER  crrr. 

The  stupid,  gross  materialism  of  the  world  had  hold 
of  her  lover,  which  recognizes  nothing  of  value  unless 
the  world  has  stamped  it,  —  which  can  see  nothing  in 
spirit,  keen-edged  sense,  or  faithfulness  worth  more 
than  a  faint,  sentimental  approval,  —  which  knows  no 
selling  all  it  has  for  the  sake  of  a  pearl  of  price,  — 
which  would  not  know  such  a  pearl  unless  appraised 
by  the  jewellers,  and  in  setting  of  gold  in  the  latest 
fashion.  He  had  been  willing  to  play  with  this  girl, 
and  admire  himself  for  his  condescension  in  doing  it, 
and  elbow  all  considerations  out  of  the  way  that  might 
interfere  with  his  sovereign  pleasure  in  so  doing. 
Like  most,  I  might  say,  all  young  men,  he  knew  how 
to  respect  women  of  his  own  class  and  circle ;  but, 
outside  that  circle,  he  had  no  more  real  conception  of 
any  regard  and  protection  due  them  on  account  of 
sex  than  he  had  of  worship  for  the  Virgin  Mary,  nor 
half  as  much.  Take  a  young  man  of  the  present  day 
at  hazard  from  any  circle  in  city  or  country,  and  you 
will  find  him  —  a  thin  veneering  of  sentiment  and  fair 
manners  scratched  off  —  as  worldly,  cool,  selfish,  and 
calculating  as  any  titled  lackey  of  the  great  Louis's 
court.  They  have  not  even  the  grace  of  gracelessness 
which  led  a  professed  rou£  like  Aaron  Burr  to  reprove 
Pierrepont  Edwards  for  kissing  a  servant  girl,  remind 
ing  him  that  a  gentleman  pursued  his  amours  in  his 
own  rank.  In  these  godless,  chance-bred  days  there 
is  little  enough  principle  of  any  kind  manifest  in  any 
relation,  where  one-half  the  world  is  led  by  interest 
and  the  other  half  by  taste.  There  is  no  principle  at 
all  in  love.  How  was  a  young  fellow,  brought  up  to 
consider  wearing  good  clothes  and  living  in  good  style 
essentials  of  life,  and  keeping  his  precious  self  amused 


ONE   NAIL   DEIVES   ANOTHER   OUT.  365 

and  in  good  spirits  the  major  and  only  and  ultimate 
end  of  life,  what  was  he  to  know  or  care  about  the 
pain  he  was  inflicting  or  the  loss  he  was  entailing  on 
himself  in  leaving  the  warm,  intense  nature  he  had 
taught  to  love  him.  Yes,  the  loss.  Many  a  man 
throws  away  the  success  of  his  life  in  the  love  of  some 
unformed  woman,  whom  he  has  not  learned  to  hold  at 
her  true  value. 

Emeline  was  alone  in  the  sitting-room,  absorbed  in 
thought.  She  had  gone  through  the  bitter  waters, 
and  had  her  fill  of  disgrace  and  humiliation.  Honest 
and  true,  faithful  to  the  man  she  loved,  and  wrapt  up 
in  him,  she  had,  for  no  fault  of  her  own,  been  cast  off, 
thrust  out,  and  abandoned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a 
set  of  harpies,  not  her  equals  in  any  sense,  but  who 
resented  her  taking  possession  of  the  most  promising 
young  man  in  town. 

Would  she  stay  in  New  Canton,  and  give  up  all  the 
hopes  she  had  cherished  and  all  the  expectations  she 
had  formed  ?  Could  she  stay  in  Burt's  house  as  a  ser 
vant,  —  not  as  a  companion,  —  and  subside  into  the 
mere  nothing  which  servants  always  are  ?  Add  to 
that  the  fact,  which  she  recognized,  that  she  was  un 
der  a  reputation  which  she  did  not  deserve  and  which 
she  never  could  outlive,  and  her  heart  failed  her. 

She  looked  up  from  her  sewing,  and  saw  Mr.  Burt 
sitting  in  an  easy-chair,  reading  his  paper.  He  had 
come  in  so  quietly  she  had  not  seen  him,  and  had  been 
observing  her  for  some  time.  He  knew  what  was 
passing  in  her  mind. 

"  Emeline ! " 

"  Emeline,  I  know  what  you  are  going  through, 
and  I  came  here  to  speak  to  you.  You  have  loved  a 


366  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

man  not  worthy  of  you  —  a  man  who  did  not  under 
stand  you,  or,  if  he  did,  had  not  the  courage  to  stand 
by  you,  as  he  should  have  done.  He  did  not  dare  to 
face  the  gossips  of  this  miserable  village.  He  has  left 
you,  as  I  thought  he  would  months  ago.  Had  I  not 
been  convinced  of  it,  I  should  have  interfered  sooner. 
You  cannot  stay  here." 

"  Where  can  I  go  ?  "  asked  the  girl,  her  face  flush 
ing. 

Mr.  Burt  sat  in  silence  for  a  moment. 
"Emeline,  there  will  be  changes  here  that  will 
make  this  house  no  home  for  you,  or  for  any  of  us  per 
haps.  Put  your  own  affairs  aside  one  moment,  if  you 
can,  while  I  speak  of  mine.  The  land  company  is  on 
the  point  of  failing.  There  will  be  trouble  for  Pep- 
pernell  and  his  lot." 

Burt  spoke  with  indescribable  triumph  and  dilating 
nostril. 

"  It  will  be  best  for  me  to  be  somewhere  else.  This 
is  no  new  thing,  Emeline.  I  have  been  looking  for  it, 
any  minute,  for  a  year.  It  is  a  wonder  it  did  not 
come  before.  But  you  needn't  look  alarmed.  I  have 
something  ahead.  I  thought  I  had  a  right  to  the  pay 
for  my  services  "  (he  spoke  with  a  sneer)  ;  "  for  you 
know  I  have  worked  hard  for  New  Canton  and  the 
company.  My  savings  and  investments  elsewhere 
will  leave  me  enough  to  live  on  away  from  here.  I 
am  sick  of  this  wretched  town  and  everybody  in  it ; 
and,  if  I  had  not  hated  it  before,  I  should,  for  the  way 
it  has  treated  you.  I  came  of  a  family  as  poor  as 
yours,  though  I  took  good  care  never  to  let  a  soul 
know  it.  My  mother  made  vests  for  a  living,  and  I 
swept  the  schoolhouse  for  my  tuition,  when  I  had  to 


ONE  NAIL   DRIVES   ANOTHER   OUT.  367 

eat  my  lunch  behind  sheds,  so  that  the  boys  and  girls 
couldn't  see  it  was  bread  without  any  butter.  All 
that  you  have  gone  through  I  went  through  years 
ago  ;  though,  being  a  man,  I  could  emancipate  my 
self,  which  a  woman  can  neve'r  do.  What  a  man  does 
doesn't  count,  if  he  succeeds  ;  and  that  success  I  have 
achieved.  I  hate  it  all.  I  hate  the  life  I  lead,  the 
men  I  am  compelled  to  associate  with,  and  the  women. 
I  have  determined  to  quit  it  all,  and  find  the  life  I 
want  somewhere  else." 

"  How  will  Mrs.  Burt  like  going  away  from  her 
friends  and  her  home  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  asked  her,"  Burt  returned,  grimly ; 
"  and  I  don't  intend  to.  Have  no  fear  for  her.  I  am 
not  a  mean  man.  I  shall  leave  her  well  provided  for 
—  with  this  house  in  her  own  name  and  rents  to  col 
lect  as  it  pleases  her.  And  she  will  have  them  all 
without  the  encumbrance  of  a  husband." 

44  You're  not  going  to  leave  her  ?  " 

44  Leave  her  ! "  exclaimed  Burt,  rising,  and  glaring 
about  the  room.  u  Leave  her  !  Yes  !  I  shall  leave 
every  thing  that  reminds  me  of  the  life  I  have  been 
leading  and  the  lie  I  have  lived,  and  I  hope  never  to 
see  any  of  it  again.  I  leave  behind  me  fools  and 
idiots  who  were  an  annoyance  to  me,  and  the  rascals 
and  thin  frauds  whom  I  despised.  I  shall  go  out  to  a 
life  that  holds  something  for  me." 

44  Not  alone?" 

44  No,  no  ;  not  alone.  Emeline,  I  shall  go,  and  take 
somebody  with  me." 

44  Who  ?  " 

44  You  !  I  love  you.  You  know  I  do,  and  I  always 
have.  I  knew  how  your  connection  with  that  half- 


368  A  TAPER  CITY. 

baked  Gardiner  would  result,  and  I  was  willing  to 
bide  my  time.  But,  when  I  was  forming  the  inexpe 
rienced  girl  that  came  to  my  house,  it  was  not  for  him 
but  for  myself.  You  are  too  good  for  him.  You  are 
good  enough  for  me." 

Burt  did  not  look  as  though  he  expected  an  answer, 
but  paced  the  floor  like  a  man  crazed.  Emeline  sank 
back,  half  fainting  and  half  frightened  at  the  vehe 
mence  of  his  words  and  his  excited  manner.  The 
blood  came  and  went,  there  was  a  film  before  her  eyes, 
and,  for  a  minute,  she  was  incapable  of  speech  or  mo 
tion. 

"Will  you  stay  here  and  be  the  common  drudge, 
to  be  sneered  at  by  women  and  pointed  at  by  men  ? 
Will  you  stay  here  to  endure  Peppernell's  coarse  jokes, 
and  to  be  an  object  of  pity,  as  the  aspiring  kitchen- 
girl  whom  Jim  Gardiner  wanted  to  marry,  but  dared 
not  ?  Emeline,  you  are  too  good.  You  can  have  the 
freedom  I  shall  have,  and  all  that  I  have  ;  and  you 
will  have  a  man,  who,  if  he  is  not  entirely  worthy  of 
you,  can,  at  least,  appreciate  you." 

The  next  morning,  Emeline  informed  Mrs.  Burt 
that  she  had  determined  to  leave  New  Canton.  Mrs. 
Burt  complained  bitterly,  and  objected  strenuously. 
Who  could  give  her  medicine  so  well  ?  It  would  take 
months  to  get  another  girl  to  understand  her  ailments 
and  be  so  handy  with  her  medicines.  Was  it  wages 
she  wanted  ?  She  didn't  think  it  right  to  be  made  to 
continually  raise  wages  ;  but  she  liked  Emeline  so 
much,  that,  if  an  additional  half-dollar  a  week  would 
satisfy  her,  she  wouldn't  object.  She  didn't  like 
changes,  and  was  willing  to  submit  to  what  she  con 
sidered  extortion  rather  than  to  endure  them. 


ONE   NAIL   DEIVES   ANOTHER   OUT.  369 

"  Will  that  be  satisfactory,  Emeline  ?  " 

u  I  prefer  to  go,"  was  her  answer. 

"  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  let  her  have  her  own 
way,"  said  Mr.  Burt,  quietly. 

She  went,  and  the  women  of  New  Canton  felt  re 
lieved.  Their  scandal  was  removed,  and  their  rival, 
as  they  hoped,  forever. 

24 


370  A  PAPEU   CITY. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

SOMETHING   HAPPENS. 

IT  was  an  unfortunate  thing  for  Mr.  Gardiner  that 
he  was  not  omniscient  and  not  omnipresent.  Had 
he  been  on  the  streets  of  New  Canton  one  night,  with 
good  eyes,  he  would  have  seen  a  sight  that  would 
have  made  him  uneasy.  He  would  have  seen  Mr. 
Burt  enter  the  bank,  closing  the  doors  behind  him 
softl}r,  and  getting  in  with  that  quick  movement  which 
indicated  a  desire  not  to  be  seen  entering ;  and,  after 
getting  in,  he  would  have  seen  him  in  a  quiet  back 
office,  closing  all  the  blinds  and  drawing  the  curtain 
down  very  carefully.  And,  a  few  minutes  later,  he 
would  have  seen  Col.  Peppernell  unlock  the  front 
door  with  his  key  (he  had  always  insisted  upon  hav 
ing  a  key  of  his  own),  and  go  straight  to  the  same 
room.  And  he  would  have  seen  Mr.  Burt  start 
up  with  a  half-frightened  and  half-annoyed  look, 
as  though  some  purpose  was  interrupted  by  the 
Colonel. 

But,  as  Mr.  Gardiner  was  quietly  sleeping  in  his 
own  room,  and  as  Jim  was  walking  the  floor  of  his 
office,  very  wretched,  no  one  in  the  Gardiner  interest 
saw  any  thing  of  these  movements. 


SOMETHING   HAPPENS.  371 

Col.  Peppernell  had  been  growing  uneasy ;  and  the 
object  of  his  visit  to  Burt  in  the  back  room  of  the 
office  that  night  was  to  in  some  way,  remove  some  of 
the  doubts  that  were  oppressing  him. 

Mr.  Burt  had  been  going  to  Chicago  too  frequently 
to  suit  that  astute  gentleman,  and  he  felt  it  his  duty 
to  see  what  it  was  all  about.  So,  one  day,  after  giv 
ing  it  out  freely  that  he  was  going  to  Peoria,  Col. 
Peppernell  went  to  Chicago.  He  knew  something  of 
Mr.  B  art's  haunts  in  the  city  ;  and,  moreover,  as  a  di 
rector  in  the  land  company  and  bank,  he  had  a  perfect 
right  to  make  inquiries  after  the  interests  of  that  now 
somewhat  famous  corporation. 

The  Colonel  did  not  find  out  much  in  Chicago-;  for 
Messrs.  Price  and  Hawkins,  and  others  with  whom 
Burt  did  business,  were  very  reticent  as  to  any  thing 
connected  with  it.  They  knew  nothing  ;  and  they 
knew  nothing  so  decidedly  and  with  mouths  so  close, 
that  Col.  Peppernell  knew  there  was  something  kept 
from  him.  The  more  he  demanded,  the  further  they 
were  from  telling  any  thing. 

"  If  we  have  had  any  business  with  Mr.  Burt, —  un 
derstand  me,  I  say  4  if,'  —  it  is  necessarily  a  matter  be 
tween  Mr.  Burt  and  ourselves.  You  can  see  for  your 
self —  you  are  a  man  of  business  —  that  business  is 
confidential,  and  that,  whatever  has  transpired  between 
us,  —  if  any  thing  has,  —  we  should  be  no  more  justi 
fied  in  revealing  to  you  than  we  would  in  writing  to 
him  that  you  had  been  here  making  inquiries  about 
him." 

Thus  Mr.  Hawkins  ;  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that 
Mr.  Price  agreed  with  him. 

The  Colonel  left  as  wise  as  he  came. 


372  A   PAPEK   CITY. 

As  he  left  the  office,  Mr.  Price  smiled  at  Mr.  Hawk 
ins  and  Mr.  Hawkins  smiled  at  Mr.  Price. 

"  Burt  don't  want  to  waste  any  time,"  said  Mr. 
Hawkins. 

"  He's  got  'em,  though,  if  he's  quick  enough  about 
it,"  said  Price. 

"  Don't  worry  about  him,"  was  Hawkins's  answer. 
"  He's  smart  enough  for  forty  Peppernells."  And 
they  dismissed  the  subject. 

Col.  Peppernell  took  the  first  train  for  New  Canton, 
and  went  directly  to  the  bank,  where  he  found  Mr. 
Burt  alone. 

On  one  memorable  occasion  Mr.  Burt  closed  the 
doors  very  carefully.  This  time  Col.  Peppernell  did 
so,  and  he  was  as  particular  as  Mr.  Burt  had  been. 
Mr.  Burt  showed  no  surprise. 

"Burt,  I  want  to  ask  you  a  plain  question." 

"  Being  a  plain  man,  I  shall  give  you  a  plain  an 
swer." 

"  Bah  !     All  that  is  wasted  on  me." 

"  My  dear  sir,  you  ought  to  control  yourself.  Sup 
pose  you  don't  believe  what  I  say,  is  there  any  occa 
sion  for  your  telling  me  so  bluntly  ?  It  is  not  the 
proper  thing,  Col.  Peppernell." 

"  How  much  money  have  we  got?  " 

"  In  the  land  company,  perhaps  two  thousand  dol 
lars.  I  will  tell  you  exactly,  if  you  desire  it." 

"  That's  near  enough.    In  the  bank  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  thirty  thousand  in  cash." 

"  And  how  much  in  securities  ?  " 

"  The  bank  and  land  company  are  mixed,  somewhat. 
The  money  received  from  depositors  has  been  used 
very  largely  in  improvements  and  in  paying  for  lands 


SOMETHING   HAPPENS.  373 

purchased.  We  have  property  for  which  we  have 
paid  $267,000.  We  have  bonds  and  mortgages  for 
property  sold  for  as  much  more  —  in  all,  say  a  round 
half-million." 

"  What  could  you  sell  the  securities  for,  and  how 
much  money  could  you  raise  on  mortgage  ?  I  mean 
out  and  out,  for  cash  in  hand ! 

"  I  suppose  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars ; 
that  is,  if  anybody  could  be  found  to  purchase  them. 
But  we  would  be  very  stupid  to  sell  them,  or  under 
take  to.  It  is  true  that  the  mortgages  are  for  an 
amount  largely  in  excess  of  what  the  property  would 
bring  in  cash,  or  even  for  what  might  be  called,  in  the 
language  of  trade,  negotiable  paper.  To  make  it  en 
tirely  clear  to  you,  a  mortgage  for  $1,000  on  a  lot  con 
taining  one-seventh  of  an  acre  of  land,  which  no  one 
would  pay  twenty  dollars  an  acre  for,  cannot  be  con 
sidered  very  good  security,  unless  the  mortgager  has 
some  other  assets  than  the  land.  I  am  happy  to  say 
that  the  most  of  those  to  whom  we  have  sold  have 
assets  outside  of  the  land,  and  that  collections  from 
them  are  not  entirely  hopeless.  But,  Colonel,  this  is 
the  view  to  take  of  it  to-day.  To-morrow  it  may 
look  different.  We  must  discount  the  future.  We 
must  labor  and  work  and  wait  till  that  lot  is  actually 
worth  the  thousand  dollars.  And  —  and  why  should 
we  not?  Look  at  our  maps,  Colonel !  When  Soggy 
Run  is  im  —  " 

"  Bah  !     You'll  drive  me  crazy." 

"  When  Soggy  Run  is  improved,  and  the  system  of 
railroads  which  must  make  New  Canton  a  central 
point  are  built ;  when  the  com  —  " 

"  Mr.  Burt,  could  you,  counting  cash  and  what  we 


374  A  PAPER   CITY. 

could  realize  from  the  sale  of  the  securities  we  have, 
make  up  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  ?  I  mean  by 
this,  could  you  do  this  and  close  up  the  whole  thing 
suddenly  ? " 

"I  suppose  we  might.  But  what  do  you  ask  for? 
Have  you  •  any  idea  of  throwing  the  company  into 
bankruptcy?  To  close  now,  would  leave  us  with  a 
load  of  liabilities  we  couldn't  work  out  in  years. 
We  have  an  immense  volume  of  our  certificates  afloat. 
We  must  make  these  securities  we  hold  worth  what 
they  represent.  In  short,  why  do  you  ask  such  ques 
tions?" 

"  Burt,  there  ain't  no  use  of  trying  to  humbug  me. 
This  kind  of  talk  is  well  enough  when  we  are  sellin' 
lots  outside  ;  but  it's  all  wasted  on  me  here.  I  shel 
be  what  you  never  was — plain.  My  proposition,  in 
two  words,  is  this :  You  and  I  hev  done  this  work. 
We  hev  made  all  there  is  of  New  Canton.  We  hev 
blowed  up  this  bubble  and  we  hev  control  of  this 
property.  I  propose  that  yoo  and  I  sell  these  secu 
rities  for  jest  what  they  will  fetch,  quick,  and  light 
out.  Ther's  'nuff  to  make  us  "both  comf'table  in  Eu 
rope.  I'm  tired  of  the  whole  thing,  and  want  to  quit." 

Mr.  Burt's  look  at  this  speech  of  the  Colonel  was 
an  expression  of  astonishment,  virtuous  indignation, 
and  pity. 

"  Col.  Peppernell,  I  do  not  quite  understand  what 
you  mean  by  "  lighting  "  out.  But  I  gather  that  your 
proposition  is  to  embezzle  the  property  of  the  com 
pany,  of  which  you  and  I  are  the  confidential  officers, 
and  abscond.  Am  I  right  ?  " 

"  That  is  about  the  size  of  it." 

Seizing  a  ruler  from  the  desk  at  which  he  was  sit 
ting,  Mr.  Burt  assumed  a  posture  of  offense. 


SOMETHING  HAPPENS.  375 

"  What  do  you  take  me  for,  Col.  Peppernell  ?  Did 
you  come  here  to  insult  me  ?  Have  I  lived  to  have 
such  a  proposition  made  me  ?  You  infernal  old  fool, 
leave  the  office  this  minute  ;  and,  if  I  don't  make  this 
public  to-morrow  morning,  you  have  my  leniency  to 
thank  for  it.  You  and  I  can  never  breathe  the  same 
air  again.  Go !  " 

The  Colonel  looked  at  him,  but  he  did  not  blanch 
or  change  a  particle.  With  a  muttered  curse,  he  left 
the  office. 

When  he  had  gone,  Mr.  Burt  drew  a  long  breath 
and  his  face  grew  pale  as  death. 

"  He  has  been  to  Chicago,  and  tried  to  pump  Hawk 
ins  and  Price,  as  they  telegraphed  me  to-day.  He's 
too  late.  The  train  leaves  Freedom  in  an  hour,  and 
I  have  just  time  to  get  over.  This  is  my  time.  From 
Freedom  south  to  Peoria,  hiding  in  Peoria  till  they 
don't  know  where  I  am,  then  Europe." 

Burt  unlocked  the  safe,  and  took  out  some  packa 
ges  of  bills,  and  put  up  with  great  care.  "  $ 5,000  ; 
$10,000  ;  $20,000  ;  $5,000.  Not  enough,  not  so  much 
as  I  should  have  made  out  of  this  ;  but  I  can  make  it 
go.  Peppernell  wanted  to  share  with  me.  He's  got 
enough.  He  has  $30,000  worth  of  secured  property, 
and  he  never  made  a  dollar  of  it." 

Mr.  Burt  stowed  the  treasure  in  his  inside  pockets, 
and,  taking  a  hand-valise,  went  out  into  the  darkness. 
His  wagon  stood  convenient,  and  he  rode  out  into 
the  night.  The  vehicle  was  turned  loose  in  the  road ; 
and,  at  a  small  station  on  the  main  line,  closely  muf 
fled,  he  boarded  a  freight  train,  with  a  passenger  car 
attached,  and  went  twenty  miles,  to  a  cross-road, 
where  he  waited  for  another. 


376  A  PAPER   CITY. 

By  devious  routes,  traveling  on  unfrequented  trains, 
eking  out  the  distances  from  one  road  to  another  by 
private  conveyances,  and  walking  miles  along  unfre 
quented  roads,  Charles  Burt,  the  secretary  and  treas 
urer  of  the  New  Canton  Land  Company  and  presi 
dent  of  the  New  Canton  Savings-bank,  now  a  felon 
and  a  fugitive,  made  his  way  to  safety. 

Many  a  time,  as  he  was  combating  the  terrors  of 
the  night  and  the  more  awful  terrors  of  anticipated 
pursuit  and  capture,  he  wished  he  were  back,  a  den 
tist,  earning  an  honest,  if  an  humble  living.  But  it 
was  too  late  ;  and,  with  wealth  on  his  person,  he  made 
his  way,  like  one  walking  among  pitfalls,  afraid  and 
alarmed.  He,  whose  pride  it  had  been  to  manage 
men,  became  afraid  of  the  sight  of  a  man;  he  who  had 
by  sheer  force  of  will  managed  every  man  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact,  dodged  to  avoid  a  child,  and  ran 
in  affright  from  the  sight  of  a  man.  The  Delilah  of 
ambition  had  shorn  his  strength ;  and,  from  one  of  the 
strongest,  he  had  become  of  the  weakest  of  men.  It 
was  too  late  to  go  back.  He  had  burned  his  bridge. 


THE  EFFECT   ON  NEW   CANTON.  377 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE  EFFECT  ON  NEW  CANTON  OF  MR.  BUKT'S  DE 
PART  UK  E. 

THE  absence  of  Mr.  Burt  was  not  a  matter  that 
awakened  any  surprise.  It  was  a  very  com 
mon  thing  for  him  to  make  long  trips  in  the  interest 
of  the  land  company  ;  and  business  went  on  at  the 
office  during  his  absences  as  usual.  Col.  Peppernell 
would  happen  in,  and  direct  things ;  and  the  clerk  knew 
as  much  about  the  property  as  Mr.  Burt,  though,  of 
course,  he  had  not  that  gentleman's  winning  way  of 
entrapping  investors. 

Three  days  passed ;  and,  as  Mr.  Burt  did  not  put  in 
an  appearance,  Mr.  Gardiner  began  to  be  uneasy. 

The  day  before  Burt  went  away,  he  had  come  to 
Gardiner's  bank,  and  borrowed  ten  thousand  dollars 
—  that  is,  he  had  exchanged  cheques  for  that  amount; 
and  the  cheque,  certified  by  Mr.  Gardiner,  had  come 
back  from  Chicago,  and  Mr.  Burt  had,  singularly 
enough,  neglected  to  provide  for  it. 

Gardiner  went,  in  some  trouble,  to  James  ;  but  that 
young  man  had  troubles  of  his  own,  and  he  put  it  off 
with  the  remark  that  Burt  would  be  home  in  a  day  or 
two,  and  that,  doubtless,  it  was  all  right.  And  James, 
who  was  playing  a  game  of  chess  with  Sam  Living- 


378  A  PAPER   CITY. 

ston,  went  on  studying  the  position  of  his  king.  The 
father  went,  feeling  that  it  would  be  cruel  to  divert 
his  son's  mind  for  so  trifling  a  matter  as  $10,000. 

"Jim,"  said  Livingston,  "the  old  man's  troubled. 
If  I  were  you,  I'd  look  this  matter  up  a  little.  Your 
father's  the  most  confiding  man  I  know  of,  and  they 
will  beat  him  yet." 

"  Who  are  they?  "  asked  Jim,  not  looking  up  from 
his  game. 

"  Burt,  Peppernell,  and  the  rest  of  'em.  Burt  is  a 
smooth  hypocrite,  Peppernell  is  a  blustering  old  scoun 
drel,  and  Peak  and  Sharp  —  " 

"  A  pretty  character  to  give  leading  citizens,"  was 
Jim's  answer.  "  Sam,  you've  got  me." 

"  Not  as  bad  as  those  fellows  have  your  father. 
Jim,  you've  no  time  to  lose.  The  old  man  isn't  the 
one  to  deal  with  them.  Three  days  ago  I  saw  a 
cheque  in  Buit's  hand,  as  he  came  out  of  the  bank. 
I  saw  the  figures,  and  it  was  certified.  How  much 
do  you  suppose  it  was  for  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  the  faintest  idea,"  said  James. 

"  Ten  thousand  dollars  ;  and  Burt  has  been  gone 
three  days,  and  the  old  man  is  worried.  There's 
something  wrong,  depend  upon  it,  and  you  can't  look 
into  it  too  soon." 

"  Some  mistake,  I  suppose.  Banks  are  always  mak 
ing  mistakes,  when  they  ought  to  be  the  most  correct 
institutions  in  the  world.  I  took  the  old  man's  place 
once,  one  day ;  and  if  had  stayed  there  a  week  I'd 
have  ruined  him.  Every  cheque  that  came  in  for 
$10,  I  paid  8100  for.  It  was  a  mercy  for  us  that  the 
people  about  here  are  or  were  tolerably  honest.  But 
I  think  this  matter  ought  to  be  looked  into,  and  I'll  go 
down  and  do  it." 


THE   EFFECT   ON   NEW   CANTON.  379 

On  his  way,  his  father  met  him,  pale,  agitated,  and 
so  nervous  that  he  could  scarcely  keep  his  feet. 

44  Come  with  me  to  the  bank,  Jim,  at  once.     I  want 

you." 

James  went  with  his  father  to  the  little  private  of 
fice. 

44  Jim,"  said  the  old  man,  in  a  low,  tremulous  voice, 
44  I  ain't  easy  in  my  mind.  Burt  came  in  Monday, 
and  got  an  accommodation  cheque  certified  for  $10,- 

000." 

"  What  did  he  want  with  that  much  money  ?  " 
"The   land   company,   of    course.     I   don't  know 
what  for.     He  has  done  it  a  hundred  times  before, 
and  he  has  always  met  them  promptly." 
44  Well?" 

44  The  cheque  was  cashed  at  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Chicago,  where  I  keep  my  account ;  and  it 
has  come  back." 

44  What?"  exclaimed  Jim,  springing  to  his  feet. 
44  This  is  serious.  Stay  in  the  bank,  and  say  nothing. 
I  will  go  and  find  out  where  he  is." 

The  son  now  took  the  lead.     He  went  to  the  Burt 
residence,  and  Mrs.  Burt  answered  the  bell  in  person. 
44 Mrs.  Burt,  can  you  tell  me  where  Mr.  Burt  is? " 
44 1  can't  say.      He  left  here  Monday  night.     He 
packed  his  carpet-bag  himself,  and  said  he  would  be 
home  in  a  few  days." 

James  went  to  the  station,  and  found  there  that 
Burt  had  purchased  no  ticket  and  had  not  gone  by 
train.  While  he  was  making  his  inquiries,  the  sta 
tion-agent  at  Freedom  happened  to  be  standing  by. 

41  Burt?"  said  he.  "  He  came  to  Freedom  Monday 
night.  I  saw  him,  but  he  didn't  go  north  from  there. 


380  A   PAPER   CITY. 

He  took  the  train  south.     Didn't  get  a  ticket,  for  the 
office  wasn't  open." 

Jim,  the  elder  Gardiner,  and  Livingston  went  to 
the  office  of  the  land  company,  and,  after  questioning 
the  clerk  in  charge  as  to  Burt's  whereabouts,  de 
manded  the  books. 

The  clerk  handed  them  over.  There  was  no  record 
of  the  cheque,  but  the  cash  balance  for  the  land  com 
pany  and  the  savings-bank  showed  $50,000. 

"  Great  heavens  !  "  exclaimed  Gardiner.  "  With 
this  balance,  what  did  he  want  of  $10,000  from  me  ?" 

"  I  have  my  notion,"  said  Jim.  "  Where  is  this 
cash?" 

"  In  the  sub-treasury,"  said  the  clerk. 

"  Give  my  father  the  keys." 

"  I  haven't  got  them.  Mr.  Burt  always  keeps  them. 
When  he  goes  away,  he  leaves  out  enough  cash  for 
the  business,  and  carries  the  keys  with  him." 

"  A  cold-chisel  will  unlock  it,"  muttered  Jim.  "  I 
guess  there  ought  to  be  one  in  the  pocket  of  every 
stockholder." 

Slocum,  the  blacksmith,  was  sent  for ;  but  he,  not 
being  a  practical  burglar,  made  slow  work  of  it.  He 
got  it  open,  and  the  three  men  looked  in.  Gardiner 
fell  to  the  floor.  James  cursed. 

Empty !  The  money  was  gone  that  the  books 
showed  ought  to  be  there.  The  valuable  papers  were 
gone  —  the  mortgages,  notes,  and  every  thing  else  of 
value. 

By  this  time,  Sharp  and  Peake  had  heard  of  the  ex 
traordinary  proceedings,  and  came  in. 

"  I  can't  account  for  this,"  said  Sharp.  "  We  have 
always  entrusted  the  detail  of  the  business  to  Mr. 


THE   EFFECT   ON  NEW   CANTON.  381 

Burt.  Col.  Peppernell  might  know  something  about 
it,  if  he  were  here  ;  but  he  is  gone,  and  won't  be  back 
till  morning." 

44  What  did  he  want  of  $10,000  in  Chicago  ? " 
moaned  Gardiner,  clinging  to  the  idea  that  it  was  sus 
ceptible  of  explanation.  4*  We  owe  nothing  there,  that 
I  know  of.  I  hope  there  is  nothing  wrong  with  the 
company." 

44  There  can  be  nothing  wrong  with  the  company," 
replied  Capt.  Peak.  44  This  cheque  of  which  you 
speak,  was  it  made  to  the  order  of  the  company 
or  —  " 

44 Burt  said  it  was  for  the  company;  but  it  was 
made,  as  all  such  cheques  were,  to  the  order  of  Burt 
himself." 

44  Thank  Heaven  !  "  exclaimed  Peak,  quickly.  4'  If 
any  thing  has  gone  wrong  with  Burt,  the  company 
will  not  be  holdeii  for  that.  But  there  can't  be  any 
thing  wrong.  Mr.  Burt  is  —  " 

44  Burt's  a  thief!"  broke  in  Jim,  impetuously; 
"  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  there  are  more  of 
them." 

44  Sir  ! "  exclaimed  Peak,  threateningly. 

44  Never  mind.  We  shall  find  out.  I  leave  for 
Chicago  on  the  next  train." 

James  came  back  next  day.  The  Chicago  capital 
ists  made  short  work  of  his  hopes.  Every  note  given 
to  the  New  Canton  Land  Company  had  been  made 
payable  to  Charles  Burt  on  order ;  and  he  had  sold 
them  in  a  lump  for  what  he  could  get,  and  had  not 
been  seen  since.  He  was  non  est,  with  all  the  avail 
able  assets  of  the  land  company,  with  a  great  deal  of 
(iai diner's  money,  and  with  every  dollar  that  he  could 
borrow  in  New -Canton  and  Chicago. 


A  PAPER   CITY. 

Great  and  terrible  was  the  rage  of  Col.  Peppernell, 
who  returned  that  night,  when  he  heard  of  the  ab 
sconding  of  the  treasurer. 

"  He's  gone,  with  all  the  funds  of  the  company ! 
Blast  him  !  "  he  energetically  remarked.  "And  left 
me  as  poor  as  a  rat,  after  all  I've  done  to  develop  the 
resources  of  the  country.  I  shall  never  get  any  re 
ward  for  my  labor  and  capital.  What  I  regret  the 
most  is,  that,  in  consequence  of  this  scoundrelism, 
our  enterprises  are  for  the  time  blocked. 

To  say  there  was  consternation  in  New  Canton 
when  the  flight  of  Burt  became  a  certainty  is  to  state 
it  very  mildly.  It  was  not  consternation,  it  was  stu 
pefaction.  It  was  as  though  a  man  who  had  implicit 
faith  in  his  wife  had  come  to  his  home  and  found  she 
had  eloped  with  his  coachman,  —  as  if  a  man  who  had 
a  million  should  go  to  his  hoard  and  find  it  all  gone,  or 
as  if  the  sun  should  go  out  at  noon. 

Every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  village,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  had  money  on  deposit  at  the 
bank.  Everybody  was  interested,  directly  and  indi 
rectly,  in  the  land  company.  The  value  of  every  foot 
of  ground  in  the  section  depended  on  it ;  and  its  col 
lapse  was  the  bursting  of  many  a  bubble,  whose  ex 
istence  the  world  never  knew. 

Poor  old  Basset,  the  Congregational  parson,  had  his 
year's  salary  therein  ;  and  Mrs.  Basset  looked  aghast 
when  she  realized  that  her  hopes  of  a  new  dress  for 
herself  and  some  decent  clothing  for  the  children  were 
baseless  visions.  The  old  man  groaned  in  spirit,  and 
confessed  to  his  wife,  that  it  was  a  special  visitation 
to  punish  him  for  too  much  worldly  elevation  of  spirit 
when  his  church  raised  his  salary  from  three  to  four 


THE   EFFECT   ON   NETV   CANTON.  383 

hundred  a'year.  But,  as  philosophical  and  humble  as 
he  was,  that  evening  he  used  unusual  fervor  in  pray 
ing  that  the  doings  of  the  wicked  might  recoil  upon 
their  own  heads  ;  and  he  went  the  unusual  length  of 
banging  the  back  of  the  chair  at  which  he  was  kneel 
ing,  as  if  it  were  the  heads  on  which  wicked  deeds 
were  to  recoil.  Mrs.  Basset  became  a  Methodist  to 
the  extent  of  startling  her  children  at  this  point  with 
a  very  distinct  "  Amen  !  " 

Financially,  New  Canton  looked  like  a  field  after  a 
ten  months'  drought.  Men  gathered  in  knots,  and 
talked  and  swore ;  and  the  bars  of  the  hotels  and  of 
the  groceries  did  a  larger  business  than  ever.  - 

What  was  to  become  of  New  Canton  ?  Who  now 
could  sell  lots  ?  Who  could  catch  the  Eastern  fly  ? 
Who  could  bring  capital  to  New  Canton  ?  Where 
was  its  growth  to  come  from,  now  that  Burt,  the  head, 
brains,  and  inspiration  of  the  project,  was  gone? 
How  were  the  innumerable  speculators,  who  had 
"  gone  into  real  estate  "  at  almost  any  price,  knowing 
that,  under  the  Burt  forcing  process,  they  could  get 
out  any  day  at  an  advance,  to  save  themselves  ? 

Lots  dropped  the  first  day  ten  per  cent. ;  the  sec 
ond,  twenty  ;  the  third,  fifty  ;  and,  the  fourth  day, 
they  could  not  be  given  away.  The  bottom  had 
dropped  out. 

New  Canton  was  doomed. 

The  Colonel,  Peak,  and  Sharp  called  a  meeting  to 
"  consider  the  state  of  affairs  and  to  devise  the  best 
way  of  meeting  the  troubles  ;  "  and  they  appointed  the 
great  hall  of  the  "  Burt  Institute  "  as  the  place  of 
meeting.  Sharp  and  Peak  declined  to  attend  ;  but 
Col.  Peppernell,  who  was  not  afraid  of  his  fellow-citi- 


384  A  PAPER   CITY. 

zens,  went  alone,  as  the  representative  of  the  land 
company. 

He  displayed  on  the  walls  of  the  institute  all  the 
maps  which  he  had  taken  from  the  land-office,  with 
all  the  railroads  branching :  he  showed  New  Canton 
as  the  center  of  an  area  of  five  hundred  miles ;  and  he 
had  every  thing  to  prove  that  nothing  could  come 
amiss  to  the  great  enterprise.  He  worked  himself 
into  a  perspiration,  and  made  a  speech. 

"  Men  of  New  Canton,"  he  shouted,  "  what  ef  Burt 
hez  run  away!  Did  he  take  the  town  with  him? 
Did  he  take  the  Midland,  the  Grand  Pacific,  and  the 
Trans-Continental  ?  " 

"  He  wood  hev  took  'em  ef  they  hed  bin  here," 
shouted  a  disgusted  investor  in  those  enterprises. 

"  I  will  not  be  interrupted  !  "  shouted  the  Colonel, 
fiercely.  "  Did  he  take  the  additions  the  land  com 
pany  laid  out  ?  " 

"  I  wish  he  had,  and  left  the  money !  "  shouted  an 
other. 

"  Above  all,  did  he  take  with  him  the  enterprise  uv 
the  citizens  of  Noo  Canton  ?  Did  he  take  with  him 
that  indomitable  energy,  that  far-seeing  sagacity,  that 
immense  recooperative  power  which  enables  the  man 
uv  the  West  to  rise  superior  to  misfortune,  and  go 
upward  and  onward,  confident  in  his  strength  and 
serene  in  his  power  ?  No  !  A  thousand  times  no  ! 
And  Noo  Canton  will  go  on.  It  will  realize  all  the 
anticipations  we  hev  hed  uv  it.  All  the  hopes  that 
hev  bin  raised  will  be  fulfilled. 

"  But  we  must  hev  none  uv  this  grumblin',  —  none 
uv  this  half-heartid  layin'  down  over  little  troubles,  — 
none  uv  this  stumblin'  over  molehills.  Our  bank  is 


THE   EFFECT   ON  NEW   CANTON.  385 

bustid.  Very  good :  we  must  Lev  another  bank. 
Our  land  company  is  embarrassed.  Very  good :  it 
must  be  strengthened.  Our  citizens  is  short.  Very 
good  :  they  must  be  helped. 

"  I  took  stock  in  Noo  .Canton  — not  Burt.  Is  the 
runnin'  away  of  one  man  to  rooin  us  ?  I  b'leave  in 
Soggy  Run,  in  the  railroads,  the  slack-water, — not 
in  any  one  man  !  Men  of  Noo  Canton,-  let  us  be  up 
and  a-doin' !  Times  of  darkness  and  distress  is  when 
the  reel  strength  uv  a  man  comes  out.  Yoor  fair- 
weather  man  is  no  man  for  me.  When  the  storms 
lour,  when  the  litenin's  flash  and  the  thunders  roll, 
the  man  I  trust  in  is  he  who  is  on  deck,  with  his  hand 
on  the  helium,  his  eye  on  the  clouds,  and  his  hart 
filled  with  the  sense  of  the  responsibility  onto  him. 
Instid  uv  mournin'  Burt,  let  us  remember  that  we  hev 
other  men  left,  and  that  we  kin  go  on  and  repair  the 
breaches  in  our  Zion,  instid  uv  sittin'  down  and  hang- 
in'  our  harps  on  the  willows." 

Time  was  when  such  a  speech— a  stirring  speech, 
filled  with  all  sorts  of  oratorical  sage  and  onions  — 
would  have  set  New  Canton  wild  ;  and,  had  its  purpose 
been  to  levy  a  tax  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on  the  valua 
tion,  it  would  have  carried  it.  But  it  had  no  effect 
now.  The  people  jeered  and  hooted  at  his  allusions 
to  the  resources  of  New  Canton  ;  and,  when  he  spoke 
of  the  railroads,  he  was  compelled  to  dodge  a  quantity 
of  missiles  thrown  at  him,  every  one  of  which  was  un 
savory.  It  took  Mrs.  Col.  Peppernell,  a  most  patient 
ladv,  exactly  an  hour  to  clean  the  clothes  of  the  irate 
Colonel  after  he  had  pressed  through  the  mob  and 
reached  his  home. 

He  consoled  himself  by  examining  a  packet  in  a 
little  iron  safe  he  had  in  his  house.  (25) 


386  A   PAFEK   CITY. 

"  One  kin  stand  noomerous  eggs  and  sich  for  w'at 
I  hev,"  was  his  remark  to  himself.  "  They  can't  git 
at  Mrs.  Peppernell's  property." 

Stich,  the  tailor,  went  back  to  his  board ;  and  who 
ever  said  New  Canton  to  him  that  afternoon  got  very 
short  answers,  albeit  he  took  in  several  jobs  of  mend 
ing,  which,  a  day  before,  he  had  turned  up  his  nose 
at.  As  for  Fitzhugh,  the  shoemaker,  there  was  no 
job  of  cobbler  work  so  desperate  that  he  did  not  ac 
cept  it ;  and  as  it  was  with  these  so  it  was  with  all. 


TROUBLE  THAT  CAME   UPON   GAKDINEK.       387 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE   TROUBLE   THAT   CAME   UPON    THE    GAEDINEES. 

THE  calamity  bore  down  upon  the  Gardiners  with 
terrible  force.     Their  hope  for  months  had  been 
in  the  success  of   Mr.  Burt's   enterprise  ;    and,  now 
that  Burt  had  carried  away  so  much  of  the  scant  cap 
ital  left,  they  were  in  a  critical  condition. 

Could  they  keep  their  situation  from  the  people  ? 

The  old  man  went  to  his  home  with  the  hope  that, 
if  his  actual  condition  could  be  kept  from  the  public 
knowledge,  he  could  yet  sail  through,  or,  at  least,  keep 
in  business  till  he  could  save  something  from  the 
wreck.  He  still  had  the  confidence  of  people,  for  he 
had  done  nothing  to  forfeit  it.  He  did  not  know  that 
his  losses  were  as  well  known  to  his  neighbors  as  they 
were  to  himself — that  they  were  discussed  before  the 
butter  had  fairly  melted  on  the  buckwheats  at  their 
tables,  and  that,  while  sympathy  with  him  might  do 
something,  there  was  no  hope  from  concealment. 

Long  and  anxious  was  the  interview  that  he  had 
with  his  son,  before  he  retired  to  his  sleepless  pillow 
that  night. 

"  How  bad  is  it,  father  ?  "  asked  James, 

"  As  bad  as  it  can  be.  I  can't  do  any  thing  with 
the  land  of  the  company  ;  for  the  bottom  is  out  of  that, 


388  A  PAPER   CITY. 

and  lots  can't  be  sold  now  for  the  acre  price  before 
Burt  came.  If  the  people  would  only  give  me  time 
to  go  on,  something  could  be  made  by  using  your 
mother's  property  and  —  " 

"  What  grandmother  left  me,"  said  Jim.  "  All 
right.  I'll  throw  in  all  I  have." 

"But,  Jim,  what  shall  we  do  to-morrow?  There 
is  certain  to  be  a  run  on  me,  and  then  it's  all  up." 

"  How  much  currency  have  you  in  the  safe  ?  " 

"  Ten  thousand  dollars." 

"  What  securities  have  you  ?  " 

"  Possibly  fifteen  thousand  more." 

Jim  looked  at  his  watch  uneasily. 

"  Father,  there  is  just  one  thing  to  do.  If  they 
make  a  run  on  you,  you  must  meet  it.  If  they  come 
in  the  morning,  we  must  be  there,  and  pay  out  dollar 
for  dollar  till  we  have  got  to  the  end.  Possibly,  after 
the  people  have  seen  us  pay  a  dozen  with  a  good  face, 
the  rest  will  let  us  alone.  But  go  down  with  me  to 
the  bank  and  give  me  those  securities." 

"What  for?" 

"This  night  I  shall  go  to  our  friends,  —  if  we  have 
aDy, — and  get  cash  advanced  on  them.  Time  is 
every  thing.  We  can  keep  the  crowd  off  till  night 
with  $25,000,  and  something  may  turn  up." 

The  young  man  assumed  the  lead  without  a  show 
of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  elder.  The  strength 
in  James  Gardiner,  that  had  lain  dormant  so  long,  be 
gan  to  show  itself. 

The  two  left  the  house  —  it  was  yet  early  — and 
went  to  the  bank.  The  securities  were  taken  from 
the  safe  ;  and,  before  midnight,  $15,000  were  added  to 
the  ten  already  there,  and  James  and  his  father  went 


TROUBLE   THAT   CAME  UPON   GARDINER.       389 

to  their  troubled  rest.  Before  the  minds  of  both,  rose 
the  ghost  of  murdered  credit  and  hopeless  bankruptcy. 
There  were  groans  in  plenty  from  the  bed  of  the  old 
man,  which  even  the  tender  consolations  of  his  old 
wife  could  not  mitigate. 

They  had  not  calculated  on  the  sleepless  hatred  of 
one  man.  This  was  Tom  Paddleford's  opportunity, 
and  he  improved  it.  No  man  living  knew  better  how 
to  do  a  mean  thing,  and  no  one  more  delighted  in  that 
kind  of  work. 

While  the  Gardiners,  father  and  son,  were  working 
to  avert  disaster,  he  had  been  very  busy  to  assist  it. 
The  night  of  the  closing  of  the  land  company's  offices 
he  followed  a  farmer  out  of  his  store,  who  lived 
twenty  miles  away,  and,  in  a  whisper,  asked  him  if  he 
had  any  money  in  Gardiner's. 

"  Money  in  Gardiner's  ?  No:  What  do  you  want 
to  know  for  ?  " 

"Nothing.  Only  I  don't  want  to  see  you  lose'. 
Old  Gardiner  lost  850,000  in  New  York  and  twice 
that  in  the  land  company.  Don't  say  a  word  to  any 
body.  I  don't  want  to  hurt  them  ;  but  I  wanted  to 
put  a  flea  in  your  ear,  to  save  you  if  you  had  any 
thing  there.  Don't  say  a  word  to  anybody;  for 
Gardiner  is  a  good  man,  and  I  wouldn't  hurt  him  for 
the  world." 

This  farmer  lived  twenty  miles  north.  He  said  the 
same  thing  to  one  who  lived  south,  to  one  who  lived 
east,  and  to  one  who  lived  west.  When  he  had  done 
this,  he  went  back  into  the  store,  with  an  infernal 
chuckle  on  his  ugly  countenance. 

44  The  Gardiners  will  smell  woolen  before  noon  to 
morrow,"  he  said  to  himself. 


390  A   PAPER   CITY. 

What  Mr.  Thomas  Paddleford  intended  happened 
exactly,  which  showed  that  he  knew  mean  human  na 
ture  to  a  dot. 

Each  one  of  these  farmers  rode  home,  full  of  a  se 
cret  which  would  give  them  some  consequence  in 
their  little  worlds,  as  men  who  were  posted  in 
"  town." 

This  conversation  occurred  everywhere  on  the 
road  :  — 

"  Simpson,  did  you  know  old  Gardiner  is  in  a  bad 
way  ?  " 

44 No.     Is  he?" 

"He  lost  $75,000  in  New  York  and  over  a  hundred 
thousand  in  the  land  company.  He's  busted,  shoor. 
I  drawed  what  I  hed  in  his  bank  this  afternoon." 

Mr.  Paddleford  did  not  stop  here.      For  conveni 
ence,  he  had  an  account  at  Gardiner's ;  and,  at  pre 
cisely  nine  in  the  morning,  he  was  seen  very  conspicu 
ously  on  the  street  walking  to  the  bank. 

He  was  bareheaded  and  breathless  ;  but  he  found 
time  to  stop  and  speak  to  everybody  willing  to  talk 
with  him. 

He  was  going  to  Gardiner's,  to  draw  out  his  bal 
ance.  He  hoped  it  was  all  right.  The  Gardiners 
were  good  men  ;  but  it  was  every  man's  duty  to  look 
out  for  himself.  He  was  not  such  a  fool  as  to  leave 
money  in  the  hands  of  men  reckless  enough  to  make 
such  large  losses.  He  didn't  want  to  do  any  thing  to 
hurt  the  Gardiners ;  but  no  man  could  stand  up  under 
such  blows,  and  there  wasn't  any  use  of  his  taking 
other  men  down  with  him. 

This  kind  of  talk  he  peddled  out  from  one  end  of 
the  town  to  the  other,  to  everybody  who  had  a  dollar 


TROUBLE   THAT   CAME   UPON   GARDINER.       391 

in  the  bank  and  to  those  whom  he  knew  would  talk 
to  depositors  he  couldn't  see. 

There  is  nothing  so  sensitive  as  credit ;  for  there  is 
nothing  earthly  so  good  as  a  dollar ;  and  even  those 
who  were  friendly  to  Gardiner  became  uneasy.  Be 
fore  ten  o'clock,  depositors  were  dropping  in  to  draw 
money,  for  they  all  had  pressing  need  of  it ;  and  it 
was  a  singular  fact,  that  they  had  pressing  need  of 
just  the  amount  of  their  balances. 

Jim  Gardiner  was  behind  the  counter  with  his 
father,  and  he  smiled  bitterly  as  Tom  Paddleford 
drew  his  balance.  He  smiled  another  bitter  smile  as 
Lewis  bustled  in,  with  a  half  apology,  and  took  out 

his. 

"  Father,"  said  he,  in  a  low  tone,  "  there  is  no  dis 
guising  it :  there  is  going  to  be  a  run,  and  that  little 
devil,  Paddleford,  has  set  it  on  foot.  Pay  out  as  slow 
as  you  can,  delay  all  that  is  possible  ;  but  pay." 

They  came,  first,  single ;  then,  by  twos  ;  then,  by 
dozens.  In  an  hour,  the  little  bank  was  crowded  with 
anxious  people,  hustling,  crowding,  pushing,  and 
swearing.  Men  came  from  twenty  miles,  on  horses 
foam-flecked  and  exhausted  with  hard  riding,  and  el 
bowed  their  way  through  the  crowd  to  the  little  win 
dow,  with  their  books  and  their  certificates,  demand 
ing  their  money. 

The  men  outside,  who  could  not  force  their  way 
into  the  room,  were  howling  like  Comanche  Indians, 
and  elbowing  and  pushing  backward  to  keep  from  be 
ing  mashed  into  jelly. 

It  was  a  curious  fact,  that  those  who  had  no  money 
in  the  bank  howled  the  loudest ;  and  those  who  never 
had  a  cent  there,  or  anywhere  else,  where  most  furi- 


392  -    A  PAPER   CITY. 

ous  in  their  denunciations  of  thieves  who  had  robbed 
the  people. 

It  could  not  last  long.  At  noon  every  dollar  was 
gone. 

"  It's  all  gone,  Jim,"  said. the  old  man,  with  a  shiver. 
"What  next?" 

"  This,"  said  Jim,  coming  to  the  front,  and  shut 
ting  down  the  window.  He  waved  his  hand  to  the 
crowd. 

"  Hang  them  !  ':  yelled  an  excited  man  near 
the  door,  who  had  been  vainly  endeavoring  to 
force  his  way  through  the  crowd.  "  Hang  the  swin 
dlers  !  " 

"  You'd  better  not  try  it,"  said  Jim,  springing  upon 
the  counter  and  looking  defiance  at  the  angry  mob. 
"  Some  of  you  would  suffer  before  you  got  either  my 
father  or  myself  with  a  rope  about  our  necks.       We 
are  not  swindlers,  and  you  know  it.     Tom  Follett,  my 
father  set  you  up  in  business,  and  has  carried  you  all 
these  years.      You  owe  him  to-day  more  money  than 
your  carcass  is  worth  ;  or  would  owe,  if  he  made  you 
pay  a  half  that  you  should  have  paid.      I've  known 
you  to  come  and  beg  like  a  dog   for  money  to  buy 
stock,  when  your  note  wasn't  worth  the  paper  it  was 
written  on  and   you  couldn't   give    security  for    the 
price  of   a  shoe-peg.      You   have   in  the  bank  here 
now  twelve  dollars  and  a  half ;  and  I'll  do  what  you 
can't  —  borrow  the  money,  and  pay  it.     Get  out,  you 
hound !     If  my  father  hadn't  been  so  generous  to  you 
and  such  as  you,  he  would  be  able  to-day  to  stand  up 
under  the  frauds  of  the  thieves  who  have  plundered 
him. 

"  We  have  paid  out  every  dollar  in  money  that  we 


TROUBLE   THAT   CAME  UPON   GAEDINEK.       393 

have  in  the  world,  and  there  are  yet  $30,000  to  be 
provided  for.  My  father's  house  and  this  building 
are  worth  half  that  amount,  my  mother  has  some 
stocks  in  her  own  right  she  inherited  from  her  father, 
and  I  have  the  Oak  Grove  Farm  my  old  grandfather 
left  me  —  enough  to  pay  off  every  dollar  of  our  in 
debtedness.  We  have  been  unfortunate  ;  but  we  are 
neither  thieves  nor  scoundrels.  Every  man  of  you 
shall  be  paid ;  only  those  we  owe  must  wait  till  we 
can  turn  ourselves." 

The  fickle  crowd  turned  in  their  favor,  and  poor 
Follett  and  other  advocates  of  hanging  were  very 
glad  to  get  away  with  whole  skins. 

They  gave  the  father  and  son  three  cheers ; 
and  those  who  had  been  foremost  in  demand 
ing  their  money  offered  it  back  again,  and  urged 
the  old  gentleman  to  go  into  business  again,  or, 
rather,  to  go  right  along  as  though  nothing  had  hap 
pened. 

"  Old  Gardiner  was  always  a  good  man,"  was  the 
remark  of  scores  of  them  ;  "  and  Jim  is  as  good  as 
his  father." 

"  I  shall  never  go  into  business  again,"  was  Gardi 
ner's  response.  "  I  can  find  something  to  do  that  will 
take  care  of  my  wife  and  myself ;  and,  as  for  Jim,  he 
will  have  to  shift  for  himself.  I  am  too  old  to  com 
mence  again.  It's  hard,  at  my  age  ;  but  I  shall  either 
die  or  get  used  to  it." 

James  Gardiner  left  the  bank  sadly  and  slowly, 
with  the  mien  of  a  man  who  hereafter  would  be  com 
pelled  to  ask  favor  of  the  world  instead  of  demand 
ing  it. 

Mrs.  Lewis  was  satisfied ;  for  she  had  proved  her- 


A  PAPER   CITY. 


self  to  be  a  prophet,  and  the  consciousness  was  more 
to  her  than  the  ruin  of  those  who  had  never  injured 
her. 

Tom  Paddleford  found  his  wife  in  tears,  the  cause 
of  which  she  refused  to  tell  him. 


MORE  FAILURES.  395 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

MORE  FAILURES. 

TOM  PADDLEFORD  was  compelled  to  eat  the 
dirt  he  prepared  for  others,  sooner  than  he  ex 
pected.  The  excitement  of  the  two  preceding  catas 
trophes  was  mild  compared  with  that  which  shook  the 
little  town  when  the  fact  became  known,  that  Paddle- 
ford  &  Son  were  insolvent,  and  hopelessly  so ;  and 
this  was  followed  by  the  announcement  that  Mr. 
Lewis  was  also  hopelessly  involved. 

New  Canton  had  never  had  such  wealth  of  excite 
ment  before ;  and,  as  the  most  of  her  prominent  citi 
zens  had  gone  into  that  bourne  of  bankruptcy  from 
which  so  few  return,  it  was  not  likely  to  have  it  again 
for  many  years. 

A  dozen  tea-parties  were  given  to  afford  an  oppor 
tunity  of  discussing  the  calamity  —  its  causes  and  con 
sequences  ;  and  it  was  astonishing  how  many  people 
there  were  who  never  had  any  confidence  in  Paddle- 
ford  &  Son,  and  had  always  predicted  they  would 
fail.  Equally  astonishing  was  it  to  find  how  many 
sage  men  and  wise  matrons  had  noticed,  for  years,  in 
their  methods  of  doing  business  the  seeds  of  inevit 
able  rufri. 

Mrs.  Wheeler,  the  wife  of  the  wagon-maker,  got  the 


396  A   PAPER   CITY. 

reputation  of  being  a  very  Minerva  by  producing  at 
her  tea  a  bolt  of  muslin,  which  she  declared  she  got 
yesterday.  "  Paddleford  owed  Wheeler  $10  for  work 
on  his  kerridge  ;  and  I  made  up  my  mind,  yesterday, 
that  I  lied  better  get  it  out  in  something  we  could 
use.  I  said  to  myself,  4  We  have  lost  enough  by  such 
people  ; '  and  I  wasn't  willing  to  lose  any  more." 

The  fact,  that  she  had  had  the  bolt  of  cloth  a  month 
and  that  she  didn't  get  it  of  Paddleford  at  all,  was  not 
generally  known  ;  and  her  guests  remarked,  as  they 
left  her  house,  "  Mrs.  Wheeler  is  afar-seeing  woman, 
and  can't  be  took  in." 

Scarcely  was  the  sensation  caused  by  the  failure  of 
Paddleford  fairly  at  the  hight,  before  the  little  town 
was  again  shaken  —  if,  indeed,  it  could  be  said  there 
was  enough  left  of  it  to  shake.  It  was  officially  an 
nounced,  that  the  Lewises  had  lost  every  dollar  they 
possessed. 

New  Canton  stood  aghast.  The  land  company, 
Burt,  % Gardiner,  Padelleforel,  Lewis !  The  three 
wealthiest  of  her  citizens  and  the  only  institution 
she  had,  all  gone  !  It  was  too  much. 

Old  Seth  Martin,  the  worst  drunkard  of  the  old 
sort  in  the  town  and  a  man  whose  credit  never  had 
been  able  to  compass  a  day's  supply  of  tobacco,  leaned 
against  a  post,  when  he  heard  it,  and  said,  dolefully  : 
"  Great  heavens  !  who  next  ?  After  this,  I  ain't  cer 
tain  of  my  staneiing  !  " 

The  citizens  felt  the  town  was  like  one  of  those 
fabled  villages  in  New  Jersey,  which  sink  into  caves 
overnight.  No  man  was  chidden  for  staying  down 
town  nights,  though  he  didn't  put  in  an  appearance 
till  the  unheard-of  hour  of  half-past  eleven.  He  might 


MORE  FAILURES.  397 

count  upon  his  spouse  being  up  and  waiting  for  him, 
clad  in  her  nightgown  and  nightcap,  with  a  small 
woolen  shawl  over  her  shoulders,  her  countenance 
wreathed  in  an  endearing  smile,  and  a  plate  of  dough 
nuts  ready  to  munch  in  comfort,  while  he  told  her 
the  news. 

From  early  morn  till  late  after  midnight,  knots  of 
men  gathered  wherever  a  post  made  leaning  comfort 
able,  or  a  dry-goods  box  made  sitting  possible  ;  and 
the  topic  was  always  the  failures.  Farmers  came  in 
from  miles  around,  mechanics  stopped  their  work  ; 
and  failure  was  the  on,e  theme  of  talk.  The  wildest 
rumors  got  afloat,  and  embraced  every  possible  cause 
of  financial  distress,  from  forgery  to  speculation.  Fi 
nally,  Truth,  the  slowest  moving  of  all  slow-moving 
things,  got  out  of  her  well,  and  aired  herself. 

Paddle  ford  &  Son,  who  had  always  operated  largely 
in  produce,  at  the  beginning  of  the  land  company  had 
joined  a  Chicago  party  in  an  attempt  to  "  corner " 
wheat,  by  buying  all  attainable  and  holding  it  for  a 
rise,  or,  rather,  compelling  those  who  had  sold  wheat 
to  deliver,  to  buy  it  of  them  at  their  own  price.  It 
was  a  beautiful  scheme,  and  would  have  made  them 
all  rich.  But  every  thing  went  against  them,  as 
every  thing  generally  does  against  men  who  attempt 
to  outbid  Nature  and  control  the  elements.  Another 
ring  formed  against  them,  which  had  more  money  and 
wider  connections,  who  sold  the  Paddleford  ring  all 
the  wheat  it  wanted,  and  had  no  difficulty  whatever 
in  finding  the  wheat  to  deliver.  It's  all  very  pleasant 
amusement  hunting  the  tiger  ;  but  what  if  that  sleek 
animal  hunts  you  ?  Speculation  would  be  very  pleas 
ant,  if  you  could  only  have  every  thing  your  own 


A   PAPER   CITY. 

way  ;  but  were  there  ever  a  set  of  acute  men  who  did 
not  find  another  set  just  as  acute  ? 

The  Paddlefords  were  actually  bankrupt  long  be 
fore  Gardiner  failed. 

The  prospect  of  the  ultimate  failure  of  Gardiner  at 
the  time  of  the  New  York  loss  gave  Tom  Paddleford 
the  idea  upon  which  he  acted.  He  was  still  supposed 
to  be  rich,  and  he  knew  well  enough  that  Mrs.  Lewis 
would  never  consent  to  wedding  her  daughter  with 
the  son  of  a  bankrupt  banker ;  for  Mrs.  Lewis  loved 
money  as  few  men  do,  and  was  ambitious  as  Lucifer 
for  herself  as  well  as  her  daughter.  He  artfully  sowed 
the  seeds  of  suspicion  in  her  mind,  and  set  her  hus 
band  on  the  track  to  confirm  his  surmises.  He  in 
tended  to  oust  Gardiner,  and,  before  the  ugly  fact  of 
his  own  failure  became  known,  marry  the  girl  himself, 
and,  with  the  capital  of  the  Lewises,  rebuild  the  fallen 
fortunes  of  his  house.  Should  the  Lewis  family  re 
fuse  to  put  their  means  into  the  firm,  he  would,  at 
least,  be  sure  of  a  very  good  living  all  his  life.  The 
position  of  son-in-law  to  a  moderately  wealthy  man  is 
not  a  hard  thing  for  a  young  man  who  is  fond  of  luxu 
ries  and  does  not  like  to  work. 
Why,  then,  the  failure  ? 

The  night  before  James  Gardiner  got  Mary's  note 
informing  him  so  piteously  that  she  must  marry  Tom 
Paddleford  there  was  a  scene  in  the  Lewis  house, 
which  it  would  have  been  better  if  Tom  Paddleford 
had  witnessed. 

Mary  was  called  to  the  mother's  bedroom,  where 
Mrs.  Lewis  sat,  gloomy  as  a  graveyard  and  severe  as 
the  Fates.  Then  and  there  the  demand  was  made, 
that  she  should  at  once  dismiss  all  thoughts  of  marry- 


MOKE   FATLTJEES.  399 

ing  Jim  Gardiner  and  prepare  herself  to  receive  the 
addresses  of  Tom  Paddleford. 

"  Great  heavens,  mother  !     Why  ?  " 

Then  Mary  was  informed,  with  much  circumlocu 
tion,  that,  with  the  laudable  purpose  of  doubling 
their  fortune,  her  mother  and  father  had  invested,  not 
only  all  the  money  they  had,  but  all  they  could  bor 
row,  in  bonds  of  the  North  Alaska  Railway  Company, 
at  33,  which  everybody  supposed  certain  of  going  to 
par  within  a  year.  They  wrere  endorsed  by  the  presi 
dent  of  the  company,  the  eminent  financier,  Magnus 
Plutus,  Esq.,  who  had  successfully  negotiated  the 
bonds  of  the  Government  at  a  time  when  the  bonds 
were  a  great  deal  better  than  the  money  the  people 
paid  for  them,  and  had  thus  attained  great  distinction 
as  a  financier  in  the  world  of  money,  and  might  have 
failed  for  ten  times  the  amount  he  finally  did. 

In  consequence,  anything  he  put  his  name  to  was 
considered  perfectly  good ;  and  a  great  many  people 
besides  Mrs.  Lewis  bought  North  Alaska,  in  serene 
confidence  that  the  bonds  would  go  up  in  a  short 
time  to  thrice  their  selling  price.  Then,  they  pro 
posed  to  sell,  invest  in  eighteen  per  cent,  mortgages 
nearer  home,  like  honest,  contented  people,  and  for 
ever  after  be  happy. 

But,  one  day,  Magnus  Plutus  exploded.  It  was 
discovered  that  he  was  the  company  aifd  all  there 
was  of  it.  Not  a  mile  of  the  road  had  ever  been 
built,  and  the  assets  were  limited.  True,  there  was 
the  land-grant ;  but,  as  the  land  wouldn't  support  a 
chipping-bird  to  the  acre,  besides  the  disadvantage  of 
being  under  snow  nine  months  in  the  year,  that  secu 
rity  was  hardly  desirable. 


400  A  PAPER  CITY. 

"  But  no  one  knows  yet,"  continued  Mrs.  Lewis. 
"  If  I  did  not  know  that  Gardiner  must  fail  within  a 
few  months,  I  should  prefer  to  have  you  marry  James ; 
for  I  like  him  better  than  Paddleford.  But  that's 
impossible.  Paddleford  is  rich.  He  can  redeem  the 
homestead,  and  can  easily  support  your  father  and 
me,  not  in  the  style  I  had  hoped  to  live,  but  in  com 
parative  comfort.  It  is  the  best  I  can  do,  and  it  must 
be  done." 

Thus  spoke  Mrs.  Lewis,  as  though  the  girl  had  no 
interest  at  all  in  the  matter,  but  was  merely  the  means 
of  giving  her  father  and  mother  a  living. 

"  But,  mother,  I  can't  marry  Tom  Paddleford.  I 
love  Jim  Gardiner." 

"  Would  you  turn  your  father  and  mother  out  into 
the  streets,  you  ungrateful  girl?  What  can  Jim 
Gardiner  do  for  you  or  us  ?  Love,  indeed  I  Bread 
and  butter  is  the  first  consideration  now." 

"  But,  ma,  if  I  marry  Tom  Paddleford,  I  must  first 
tell  him  our  condition." 

The  girl  wanted  an  escape,  and  she  knew  Paddle 
ford  would  never  think  of  her  without  the  expectation 
of  the  fortune. 

"  Never,  child !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Lewis,  in  alarm. 
"Never!  You  would  ruin  every  thing,  you  foolish 
girl.  Leave  every  thing  to  me.  Goodness  !  How 
much  managing  in  does  take  to  get  on  in  this  world  ! " 
Possibly,  Mrs.  Lewis  would  have  got  on  better  if 
she  had  done  less  managing.  Managing  can  be  over 
done. 

And,  so,  after  oceans  of  tears,  and  protests  as  vig 
orous  as  a  girl  without  much  will  could  make,  she 
was  driven  to  consent  to  marry  the  man  she  hated  and 
jilt  the  man  she  loved. 


MORE  FAILURES.  401 

And,  womanlike,  as  she  had  to  do  it,  she  insisted 
upon  its  being  done  at  once  ;  for  she  wanted  to  put 
herself  and  the  man  she  loved  out  of  misery. 

After  the  flight  of  Burt  and  the  downfall  of  the 
Gardiners,  when  borrowing  became  impossible,  Tom 
came  to  the  house  one  morning,  and  wished  to  see 
Mrs.  Lewis  alone.  Mr.  Lewis  was  present ;  but  Mrs. 
Lewis  remarked  graciously,  that  that  would  make  no 
difference.  In  her  presence,  Mr.  Lewis  never  did 
make  any  difference. 

Thomas  opened  his  business  with  a  great  deal  of 
hesitation,  for  he  had  learned  to  fear  as  well  as  love 
his  mother-in-law.  She  was  a  superior  woman. 

"Well,  Thomas?  "  said  she,  encouragingly. 

"  What  I  have  to  say,"  spoke  up  Thomas,  "  con 
cerns  your  daughter  very  closely." 

44  I  hope  she  is  in  no  way  a  disappointment  to 
you?"  queried  Mrs.  Lewis,  wondering  what  was 


coming. 


"  Not  at  all,"  was  Thomas's  answer.  "  A  more  de 
lightful  girl  never  lived." 

"  Well,  what  is  it  ?" 

44  Nothing  but  this,"  said  Tom,  determined  to  get 
at  it  at  once.  "  I  want  you  to  lend  us —  that  is,  Pad- 
dleford  &  Son  —  $30,000  ;  and,  what  is  more,  we  must 
have  it." 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven,"  gasped  Mrs.  Lewis, 
44  what  do  you  want  of  so  large  an  amount?  " 

44  Simply  this,  mother,"  replied  Tom,  who  had  re 
covered  his  composure  and  some  of  his  audacity  (a 
rat  will  fight  when  driven  into  a  corner).  44  Father 
and  I  lost  more  than  we  were  worth,  months  ago,  in 
Chicago  wheat ;  and  our  paper  is  coming  due  every 

26 


402  A  PAPER   CITY. 

day.  We  have  kept  afloat  by  borrowing.  If  we  can 
get  $30,000,  we  can  go  on.  If  not,  we  go  under  to 
morrow,  sure.  You  don't  want  a  bankrupt  son-in- 
law,  do  you  ?  " 

Mrs.  Lewis  turned  pale.  Every  thing  looked  black, 
and  she  sought  to  relieve  herself  by  a  series  of  groans. 
Mr.  Lewis,  not  less  a  woman,  sat  and  moaned  and 
wrung  his  hands.  Tom  looked  on  in  wonderment, 
not  comprehending  this  excessive  emotion,  while 
Mary  alone  preserved  her  composure.  In  truth,  she 
was  rather  glad  of  it ;  for  she  saw  a  distant  prospect 
of  an  escape  from  her  misery.  Very  quietly  she  oc 
cupied  herself  in  reviving  her  mother. 

The  woman  returned  to  consciousness,  and  sat  in  a 
half-dazed  condition  in  her  chair.  Finally,  she  got 
herself  together  enough  to  speak. 

"  Thomas,"  she  said,  at  last,  regarding  him  with  a 
stony  glare,  "  we  are  the  most  unfortunate  of  people. 
You  lost  your  all  in  Chicago  wheat ;  we  lost  our  all 
in  North  Alaska  bonds.  We've  got  to  all  starve  to 
gether." 

"What !  "  exclaimed  Tom. 

"  We  haven't  got  a  dollar.  The  homestead  is  mort 
gaged,  and  every  foot  of  land  we  have  in  the  world. 
It  all  went  in  North  Alaska  bonds." 

"  What  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  insane  induced 
you  to  go  into  North  Alaska?  You,  of  all  other  wo 
men  !  You  deceived  me  cruelly." 

"  Thomas,  what  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  reckless 
could  have  induced  you  to  go  into  Chicago  wheat? 
You,  of  all  other  men  !  — you,  who  refused  to  touch 
the  land  company !  Thomas,  you  deceived  me 
cruelly." 


MOKE   FAILURES.  403 

Tom  put  on  his  hat  with  a  smash,  and,  with  a 
smothered  curse  at  everybody  and  everything,  rushed 
to  the  store,  where  he  and  his  father  had  a  confer 
ence,  which  lasted  an  hour  and  involved  the  looking- 
over  of  many  books  and  papers. 

There  was  a  shifting  of  goods,  a  forced  sale  of  some 
few  lots,  for  cash  only ;  and,  in  a  few  days,  the  sher 
iff  was  in  possession. 

Jim  Gardiner  smiled  once  more.  "  Now  I  know," 
said  he  to  himself,  "  why  Mrs.  Lewis  threw  me,  and 
compelled  Mary  to  marry  Paddleford.  The  old  Jeze 
bel  !  How  she  did  lay  down  the  moralities  to  me  that 
morning!  How  pleasant  it  must  be  for  Tom,  who 
never  cared  a  straw  for  the  girl,  when  he  looks  at  his 
bargain !  Poor  Mary  1 " 


404  A  PAPER   CITY. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE   CONDITION   OF   THE   PRINCIPAL    FAMILIES    OF 
NEW   CANTON. 

THIS  was  the  condition  of  things  in  the  principal 
families  of  New  Canton  :  — 

They  had  all  been  playing  for  something,  and  most 
of  them  had  won  the  game  they  had  played  for. 

Those  who  had  won  were  infinitely  worse  off  than 
those  who  had  lost. 

Mrs.  Lewis  had  lost  her  all  in  North  Alaska,  and 
had  hedged  by  worrying  Mary  into  marrying  Tom 
Paddleford,  that  she  might  live  upon  his  money. 

Paddleford  had  lost  his  all  in  wheat,  and  had  hedged 
by  marrying  Mary  Lewis,  that  he  might  live  upon  her 
money. 

Gardiner  had  lost  his  all  by  the  failure  of  the  New 
York  bankers  and  the  scoundrelism  of  Burt.  And 
his  son  Jim  had  lost  the  girl  he  should  have  mar 
ried. 

Paddleford  had  got  the  girl,  but  not  a  dollar  of 
money  ;  and  had  a  father  and  mother-in-law  on  his 
hands,  the  latter  being  especially  objectionable. 

Mrs.  Lewis  had  sacrificed  her  daughter  to  the  worst 
man  in  New  Canton,  but  had  not  got  the  dollars  she 
had  expected. 


CONDITION   OF  THE   PKINCIPAL   FAMILIES.     405 

There  was  trouble,  disappointment,  wrong,  and 
anxiety  all  around  ;  and  no  one  was  where  they  ought 
to  be  or  in  the  right  place. 

Tom  Paddleford  never  loved  Mary  Lewis.  His  de 
sire  to  possess  her  was  merely  desire ;  and,  now  that 
he  was  saddled  with  her,  without  money,  he  abso 
lutely  hated  her.  A  woman  may  be  the  greatest  de 
light  or  the  greatest  curse  to  a  man.  To  Paddleford, 
without  money,  the  best  woman  in  the  world  would 
have  been  an  insupportable  burden.  In  marrying  her 
by  force  and  fraud,  the  rat  had  crawled  through  a 
noisome  sewer  ;  and  what  was  his  cheese  worth,  now 
that  he  had  his  teeth  in  it  ?  To  him  it  was  an  empty 
rind.  Nothing  more.  The  heart  of  it — the  girl's 
love — he  couldn't  have  appreciated  if  he  had  pos 
sessed  it,  and  the  money  he  wanted  he  had  not  got. 
For  the  first,  he  cared  nothing ;  for  the  second,  he 
mourned  sincerely. 

In  his  altered  circumstances,  he  was  compelled  to 
take  a  situation  as  salesman  in  the  very  store  where 
he  had  been  proprietor. 

What  galled  him  was  the  thought,  that  he  was  bur 
dened  with  a  wife  whom  he  hated,  when,  without 
her,  he  might  have  lived  on  his  salary. 

Gone  were  his  enjoyments,  his  expensive  drinks, 
his  fragrant  cigars,  his  glossy  hats,  his  new  panta 
loons  that  reduced  the  curvature  of  his  legs.  And, 
when  he  paid  the  board  of  his  wife  in  very  cheap 
rooms  at  the  Grand  Central,  and  thought,  that,  were 
he  alone  and  free,  he  could  live  in  something  like  com 
fort,  he  cur.sed  her  with  all  the  vehemence  of  a  low, 
mean  nature. 

Then  began  a  series  of  annoyances  of  a  petty  kind, 


406  A  PAPER  CITY. 

admirably  calculated  to  kill  the  poor  girl.  Petty 
men,  like  Tom  Paddleford,  can  worry  and  nag,  and 
nag  and  worry,  till  the  object  of  their  little  spite  turns 
upon  them.  They  make  the  other  the  aggressor  and 
place  themselves  in  the  aggrieved  position,  which, 
with  such  people,  is  a  strong  point. 

"  Where  is  the  hot  water  ?  "  he  growled,  one  morn 
ing.  "  I  don't  have  so  many  comforts  but  I  am,  at 
least,  entitled  to  a  convenience  now  and  then." 

He  was  shaving,  and  stood  before  the  glass,  with 
one  suspender  hanging  over  his  hips. 

"There's  the  water,  Tom,  right  beside  you,"  was 
the  meek  answer. 

"  Hot  ?  Do  you  suppose  a  man  can  shave  with 
water  that's  lukewarm  ?  What  are  you  good  for, 
anyhow  ?  " 

"  Tom,  I  try  to  do  every  thing  you  want  of  me." 
"  Every  thing  I     If  I  hadn't  allowed  you  and  your 
scheming  old   mother   to   trap   me   into   marrying  a 
whey-faced,    helpless   nothing,    I   shouldn't   have   to 
shave  in  such  water.     Ah  !  " 

He  had  dipped  his  finger  in  the  water,  to  test  its 
heat,  and  the  exclamation  followed  the  touch. 

"  What  did  you  have  it  brought  up  scalding  for  ? 
Take  that!" 

And  he  threw  the  water  full  at  her.  By  adroit 
dodging,  the  poor  girl  escaped  being  burnt  except  in 
a  few  spots.  She  had  become  expert  in  dodging. 
She  had  plenty  of  practice  since  she  had  left  her 
mother's  roof. 

"  Get  me  some  paper !  " 
The  paper  was  brought. 
"  Old  newspaper !  It  does  seem  that  you  never  can 


CONDITION   OF   THE   PRINCIPAL   FAMILIES.     407 

learn  any  thing.  Get  me  some  soft  paper,  something 
that  won't  dull  my  razor.  And  —  " 

By  this  time,  Mary  was  in  tears ;  and,  with  the 
tears,  came  some  little  spirit. 

"  Tom,  I  won't  bear  this  abuse.  I  am  doing  all  I 
can  to  please  you ;  but  you  won't  be  pleased.  I'll  do 
nothing  more  for  you." 

"  You  won't  ?     You  won't,  eh  !  " 

And  he  approached  her,  with  a  monkeyish,  mali 
cious  glare  in  his  little  mean  eyes. 

44  You  won't  do  any  thing  more  for  me,  will  you, 
you  daughter  of  a  miserable  fraud  ?  You  won't  ?  " 

And  he  approached  her,  waving  the  razor  in  one 
hand,  near  enough  to  frighten  her  to  death,  and  took 
a  long  drink  of  whisky  from  a  bottle  on  the  bureau, 
to  terrify  her  more  ;  for  she  always  feared  him  after 
one  of  those  terrible  draughts. 

"  Tom  !  Tom  !  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  Don't, 
Tom  !  Don't !  " 

"  Oh,  I  ain't  a-goin'  to  kill  you  !  I  am  goin'  to 
administer  needful  correction.  Take  that  for  your 
impudence!" 

And,  with  the  flat  of  his  big,  cruel  hand,  he  struck 
her,  first  on  one  side  of  her  cheek  and  then  on  the 
other,  till  she  shrieked  with  pain  and  terror. 

44  Stop  that  infernal  howling,"  he  hissed,  in  an  un 
dertone.  "  You  will  have  the  house  up  here." 

His  caution  came  none  too  soon  ;  for  the  landlady, 
hearing  the  screams,  came  to  the  doer  to  know  what 
was  the  matter. 

44  Oh !  nothing  serious,"  said  Tom,  holding  the  door 
slightly  ajar  with  one  hand,  while  he  delivered  a  se 
ries  of  admonitory  shakings  with  the  other  to  his  wife, 
cowering  in  terror  out  of  sight.  "  Nothing,  only  Mrs. 


408  A  PAPER   CITY. 

Paddleford  has  been  taken  with  one  of  her  spells.     It's 
nothing." 

O 

And,  shutting  the  door,  he  said  to  her,  "  Get  up, 
and  behave  yourself! "  aiding  her  to  rise,  with  a  most 
vicious  kick. 

One  great  trouble  with  these  rat  men  is,  they  never 
know  when  to  stop,  unless  a  fist  or  afoot  is  interposed 
to  bar  their  progress.  Poor  Mary  did  not  resent  his 
naggings  and  his  beatings  ;  and,  as  she  was  pro 
foundly  miserable  under  them,  he  doubled  the  dose. 
He  was  experimenting  to  see  how  wretched  he  could 
make  her ;  and  he  pushed  his  investigations  as  far  as 
he  could  this  side  of  killing  her. 

It  was  a  favorite  method  of  making  her  miserable 
to  ask  her  when  she  had  seen  Jim  Gardiner  last,  im 
plying  in  his  tone  and  manner  that  it  was  his  belief 
that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  seeing  him,  and  that  the 
interviews  were  not  altogether  innocent. 

"  Gad ! "  he  would  remark,  "  how  I  wish  he  had 
married  you.  You  and  the  old  woman  were  too  sharp 
for  that.  You  figured  his  failure  as  certain,  and  you 
didn't  want  a  poor  man  in  the  family.  You  had  no 
notion  we  could  fail,  or  you  wouldn't  have  roped  me 
in.  Why  don't  you  go  to  him,  now,  and  take  your 
self  off  my  hands  ?  Why  do  you  make  me  support 
you  ?  He  sees  more  of  you  than  I  do.  Oh  !  you  —  " 

The  epithet  he  applied  to  her  would  not  look  well 
upon  paper. 

Arid  the  poor  girl,  who  remembered  how  it  was 
that  she  married  the  little  beast  and  gave  up  every 
thing  that  made  life  of  value,  and  how  gladly  she 
would  go  to  the  only  man  on  earth  that  she  ever  did 
love,  would  go  away,  and  sob  as  though  her  very 
heart  was  broken. 


WHAT   ME.   BUKT   FOUND   IN   CHICAGO.         409 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

WHAT   MR.    BURT   FOUND   IN   CHICAGO. 

HAGGARD  and  worn,  sick  at  heart  and  exhausted 
with  excitement,  Charles  Burt  entered  the  ob 
scure  hotel,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  great  city,  to  which 
he  sent  Emeline  Butterfield  three  weeks  before. 

He  came  in  the  night.  He  waited  in  the  outskirts 
till  the  darkness  enshrouded  him.  He  threaded  alleys 
and  dark  streets,  and  skulked  under  the  shadows  of 
walls  and  dark  buildings.  It  was  as  though  he  car 
ried  something  on  his  face  that  he  did  not  dare  to  ex 
pose  to  the  light. 

It  was  not  the  same  Burt  who  had  once  presided 
over  the  destinies  of  the  land  company  and  the  sav 
ings-bank.  That  Burt  was  a  smoothly  shaven,  decor- 
orously  dressed  man,  a  man  who  feared  nothing  in 
the  form  of  humanity,  and  who  was  noted  for  being 
able  to  look  any  one  squarely  in  the  eye  without 
shrinking.  That  Burt  was  a  cool,  self-possessed 
man,  whose  hand  never  trembled,  whose  face  never 
blanched,  and  to  whom  fear  was  unknown. 

This  Burt  was  quite  another  man.  He  was  un 
shaven  and  unshorn.  His  clothes  hung  loosely  and 
shabbily  about  him.  His  boots  were  muddy  and 
broken,  as  if  they  had  become  acquainted  with  hard 


410  A  PAPER   CITY. 

and  unsavory  ways.  He  was  hollow-eyed  and  wasted  ; 
and  there  was  a  dodging,  blinking,  shrinking  way 
about  him  as  unlike  the  old  Burt  as  daylight  is  from 
darkness.  He  had  hardly  need  to  disguise  himself. 
His  most  intimate  friend  would  scarcely  have  known 
him. 

He  asked  for  the  room  of  "Mrs.  El  wood;"  and 
was  shown  to  it  by  a  hall-boy,  who  kept  the  profes 
sional  eye  upon  him,  as  though  he  thought  the  shabby, 
sneaking  man  needed  watching.  Alas  1  that  the  im. 
pressive  Burt,  before  whom  clerks  had  quailed  and 
hall-boys  had  bowed  in  the  first  hotels,  should  be 
watched  in  so  small  and  miserable  a  tavern  as  this ! 
He  entered  the  room  with  an  eagerness  that  was  the 
first  show  of  any  thing  like  manhood  he  had  shown 
for  days.  His  head  was  raised,  his  eyes  glittered,  his 
wasted  form  seemed  to  dilate  and  resume  something 
of  its  old  proportions. 

In  the  center  of  the  room  stood  "  Mrs.  El  wood,"  in 
the  person  of  Emeline  Butterfield ;  and  toward  her  he 
sprang,  with  arms  extended  and  a  look  of  intense  de 
light  upon  his  face. 

"  Emeline  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  I  am  here  at  last 
and  in  no  further  danger.  Dear  girl!  " 

Emeline  avoided  his  embrace,  and  retreated  to  the 
furthest  extremity  of  the  room. 

"  Emeline,  is  this  the  reception  I  had  a  right  to  ex 
pect  ?  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Only  this,  Mr.  Burt.  I  came  here  because  I  said 
I  would  ;  and  I  stayed  here  till  you  came  because  I 
thought  it  only  right  that  you  should  hear  from  my 
own  lips,  rather  than  upon  paper,  what  I  am  about  to 
say." 


WHAT  MR.   BUKT   FOUND   IN   CHICAGO.         411 

"  Don't  say-it,  Emeline  !  Don't  say  it !  "  said  Biirt, 
feverishly,  anticipating  what  was  coming.  "  Wait,  a 
day,  or  two  days.  Don't  say  it  now." 

" 1  shall  say  it,  and  say  it  now.  I  have  looked  for 
your  coming  anxiously,  that  I  might  say  it  and  have 
done  with  it.  I  shall  not  leave  the  country  with  you, 
nor  shall  I  go  anywhere  with  you.  There  will,  from 
this  time  forward,  be  nothing  between  us  —  nothing. 
You  go  your  way  and  I  shall  go  mine." 

"  But,  Emeline,"  said  Burt,  fiercely,  "  you  prom 
ised  me,  that  night  in  New  Canton,  that  you  would 
accept  my  love,  that  you  would  go  with  me,  and  that, 
from  this  time  henceforward,  you  would  be  to  me  that 
love  I  have  longed  for  so  long  and  found  in  you.  You 
promised." 

"  True,  I  did.  And,  when  I  promised,  I  meant  to 
keep  my  promise.  I  was  crazy  and  desperate.  The 
man  I  loved  was  too  cowardly  to  stand  by  me  ;  I  had 
been  hunted  down  by  people  not  as  good  as  myself ; 
my  good  name  had  been  taken  from  me  ;  and  I  saw 
nothing  before  me  but  a  life  of  privation  and  misery. 
Every  hope  I  had  in  the  world  had  been  cut  out  from 
under  me,  and  every  aspiration  had  been  crushed." 

"  I  knew  it.  I  loved  you  long  before  I  told  you 
so,  and  swore  to  do  for  you,  myself,  what  others  had 
left  undone.  I  would  do  for  you  what  Gardiner 
would  have  done  had  he  been  man  enough  to  have 
appreciated  you." 

"  Very  true  ;  and,  when  you  came  to  me  that  night, 
and  told  me  you  loved  me  and  would  be  to  me  what 
James  Gardiner  should  have  been,  I  was  desperate 
enough  to  promise  any  thing  to  anybody  that  would 
enable  me  to  take  vengeance  upon  those  who  had  per- 


412  A  PAPER  CITY. 

secuted  me,  and  inflict  pain  upon  those  who  had  de 
serted  me  when  they  should  have  stood  by  me.  I 
wanted  to  hurt  Gardiner ;  for  he  loves  me,  notwith 
standing  he  dared  not  marry  me,  and  I  knew  that  to 
elope  with  you  would  be  the  severest  punishment  I 
could  inflict  upon  him.  And  so  I  consented,  and  did 
leave  New  Canton,  and  did  come  here,  intending  to 
carry  out  my  promise,  as  we  agreed  ;  and  here  I  have 
stayed." 

"  Then  why  not  fulfill  your  promise  ?  Gardiner  is 
yet  in  New  Canton  ;  and,  the  moment  the  Paddle- 
fords  go  down,  —  which  they  will,  —  he  will  take 
back  the  girl  who,  loving  him,  married  Tom.  Why 
not,  Emeline?" 

"  I  have  had  some  days  of  rest  and  time  for  reflec 
tion.  I  will  not  throw  myself  away.  I  do  not  love 
you,  and  I  never  did.  I  did  have  a  respect  for  you ; 
for  you  are  different  from  the  other  men  I  have 
known,  and  I  have  gratitude  for  the  kindness  you 
showed  me,  no  matter  what  the  motive  was:  but  to 
carry  out  your  purpose  would  be  to  make  me  miser 
able  for  life  ;  and  I  am  not  the  kind  of  a  woman  who 
would  suffer  alone.  I  am  too  good  a  woman  for  the 
purpose  you  desire,  and  it  is  impossible  that  our  con 
nection  should  ever  be  any  thing  else.  I  would  not 
marry  you  were  you  free,  and  nothing  less  will  do  for 
me.  We  will  end  the  matter  here." 

"  Emeline,  do  you  know  what  you  are  doing  ?  Do 
you  want  to  make  me  miserable  for  life  ?  Do  you  want 
to  wreck  the  dearest  hope  of  my  life  and  make  me  ut 
terly  miserable  ?  No,  Emeline,  you  cannot.  You 
will  go  with  me.  You  will  try  and  love  me.  I  will 
be  every  thing  to  you.  I  will  —  " 


WHAT   MR.    BTJBT   FOUND   IN   CHICAGO.         413 

Emeline  regarded  him  with  a,  pitying  look,  that 
Burt  took  as  a  sign  of  relenting. 

"  You  will  not  cast  me  off,  Emeline.  I  beg  you  to 
relent.  You  do  not  know  what  you  are  doing." 

44  What  1  have  said,  I  shall  do.  My  decision  is  ir 
revocable  and  cannot  be  changed.  You  must  go  and 
leave  me." 

"  But  what  will  you  do  ? " 

44 1  do  not  know.  I  am  here  in  a  great  city, 
have  will  and  energy,  and  I  shall  make  my  way. 
Here  I  shall  stay,  and  do  what  seems  best  for  me. 
You  will  go  abroad,  as  you  designed,  —  alone.  I 
have  no  wish  for  you  that  is  not  good;  only  our 
paths  must  be  widely  apart.  I  shall  never  see  you 
after  to-night." 

Burt  looked  once  more  at  the  girl,  as  she  stood  be 
fore  him,  to  see  if  he  could  not  detect  some  sign  of 
relenting,  some  possibility  of  a  change.  There  was 
none.  Cool  and  determined,  he  read  his  fate  in  her 
face.  Then,  as  he  looked  at  the  queenly  woman 
standing  before  him,  and  felt  that  the  one  hope  of  his 
life  was  leaving  him,  passion  and  rage  filled  him.  He 
sprang  toward  her,  and  grasped  her  fiercely  by  the 
wrist. 

44  Emeline,  you  shall  not  leave  me  !  you  shall  go 
with  me  !  I  have  risked  every  thing  for  you  —  for 
you  I  have  lost  my  good  name  and  made  myself  a 
felon.  I  love  you  too  much  to  let  you  go  ;  and,  if  I 
did  not,  I  would  not  be  cheated  in  this  way.  You 
must  go  with  me." 

The  grasp  on  her  wrist  tightened,  as  the  passion 
that  had  supreme  control  of  the  man  welled  up  into 
his  face. 


414  A  PAPER   CITY. 

"  Let  me  go,"  she  said. 

"  I  will  not." 

"  Help  !  help  !  "  she  shrieked. 

There  were  footsteps  on  the  stairs,  and  Burt  came 
to  himself.  Releasing  his  grasp  upon  Emeline,  he 
sprang  to  the  door.  There  were  three  or  four  men  of 
the  hotel  on  the  stairs.  Dashing  through  them,  with 
a  curse  on  his  lips  and  an  expression  of  fright  on  his 
face,  he  plunged  out  into  the  night  again.  Fright 
ened —  yes,  frightened.  This,  the  dearest  of  his 
hopes,  the  one  great  thing  in  his  life,  that  for  which 
he  had  waited  and  schemed,  —  that,  without  which 
he  would  scarcely  have  taken  the  great  risk  he  had, 
had  failed  him.  Would  not  the  rest  of  his  ambitions 
crumble  the  same  way  ?  Was  not  this  failure  the  pre 
cursor  of  others  ?  Was  he  to  get  any  thing  for  his 
labor  and  his  planning  and  plotting,  after  all  ? 

Back  again,  through  alleys  and  by-streets,  hugging 
walls  and  enveloping  himself  in  shadows,  the  miser 
able  man  went,  until  he  had  gained  the  open  country. 
He  was  alone  on  the  prairie.  No,  not  alone.  There 
was  with  him  his  crime  and,  what  was  more  terrible 
to  him,  his  disappointment.  He  was  doomed  never 
to  be  alone  again  ;  for,  go  where  he  might,  there 
would  always  be  with  him  the  twin  ghosts,  Remorse 
and  Disappointment.  He  had  lost  his  standing  in  the 
world.  He  had,  so  far  as  his  entity  could  ever  do  him 
any  good,  died;  for  there  was  henceforth  to  be  no 
Charles  Burt  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

His  old  mother,  back  in  Connecticut,  who  had  been 
so  proud  of  him  and  who  had  hoped  for  such  great 
things  of  him,  would  weep  when  she  thought  of  him  ; 
and  his  brothers,  poor  and  humble  as  they  were,  would 


WHAT  MR.   BUftT  FOUND   IN   CHICAGO.         415 

thank  Heaven  that  they  were  not  like  him.  The 
curses  that  the  poor  of  New  Canton,  whom  he 
had  robbed,  had  hurled  after  him  found  him  in  the 
night,  as  far  away  as  he  was  and  as  dark  as  it  was. 
No  distance  could  prevent  their  following  him.  There 
could  be  no  darkness  so  dense  that  they  would  not 
find  him  ;  and  they  struck  in  leaden  showers  upon 
his  bruised  heart,  and  turned  him  cold.  The  one 
thing  that  was  nearest  and  closest  to  him  had  slipped 
away  from  him,  beyond  his  grasp. 

There  was  with  him  what  he  could  not  get  rid  of — 
a  gnawing,  hungering  love  which  lie  could  never  en 
joy.  He  had  sold  himself  to  the  Devil,  and  had  been 
cheated  out  of  his  price.  All  he  had  was  the  package 
of  money  in  his  bosom.  And  what  was  that  to  him, 
as  he  was  ?  He  could  not  use  it  for  his  ambitions, 
for  there  were  none  that  a  felon  could  pursue.  It 
would  simply  give  him  the  means  to  prolong  a  life, 
which  had  now  become  a  burden  to  him,  and  for 
which  his  two  hands  had  always  been  sufficient.  On 
he  went,  through  the  night,  like  a  second  Cain,  never 
to  know  peace  and  happiness  again. 

The  girl,  after  his  departure,  drew  a  long  sigh  ;  and 
a  happier  expression  than  she  had  worn  for  weeks 
came  to  her  face. 

"  Thank  God  that  I  had  strength  enough  to  do  as 
I  did.  Now,  my  new  life  will  commence;  and  I  will 
make  it  one  worthy  of  a  woman.  I  will  find  my  way ; 
and,  God  helping  me,  I  will  yet  have  what  I  have  al 
ways  hoped  for." 

She  left  the  hotel  the  next  morning. 


416  A  PAPEB,   CITY. 


CHAPTER     XXXV. 

WHAT  HAPPENED  TO  TOM  PADDLEFOED. 

TOM  PADDLEFORD  was  going  to  the  dogs  at 
break-neck  speed.  His  money  gone,  he  had 
nothing  to  give  him  hold  upon  his  old  associations. 
He  took  to  drink,  finding  in  rum  the  only  solace  of 
his  life. 

Jim  Gardiner  saw  Mary  frequently,  and  his  sharp 
eye  took  in  the  situation  at  once. 

"  The  little  rat  is  abusing  her,  is  he?"  he  said  to 
himself.  "  He  is  beating  her.  He  tears  her  hair.  I 
saw  the  bruises  on  her  temple,  and  I  saw  where  he 
had  pulled  her  hair  out  by  handfuls.  Tom  Paddle- 
ford,  I  did  a  foolish  thing  once,  which  you  profited 
by.  I  will  undo  as  much  of  it  as  possible.  You  shall 
never  strike  her  again." 

Tom  was  increasing  his  brutalities  day  by  day. 
He  would  go  out,  and  fill  himself  with  the  new 
whisky  of  the  region,  which  seems  to  have  been  made 
expressly  for  wife-beaters,  and  come  back,  and  nag 
and  nag,  till  the  little  courage  that  was  in  his  wife 
would  assert  itself,  and  extort  some  outburst  that 
gave  him  an  excuse  for  striking  her. 

One  night  he  was  more  than  usually  vicious.  His 
employer  had  reprimanded  him,  in  the  presence  of 


WHAT   HAPPENED   TO   TOM   PADDLEFOKD.      417 

his  fellow  clerks,  and,  while  he  was  about  it,  had 
taken  occasion  to  tell  him,  that,  if  he  did  not  quit 
drinking  and  make  himself  less  obnoxious  to  people 
generally  and  keep  himself  in  better  case  and  attend 
more  strictly  to  his  business,  with  all  the  other  things 
that  employers  delight  to  say  to  poor  devils  who  can 
not  get  away  from  them,  he  would  be  obliged  to  dis 
charge  him. 

Now  this,  said  in  the  presence  and  hearing  of  the 
very  men  over  whom  he  had  once  shaken  his  rod  and 
to  whom  he  had  said  the  same  thing  a  thousand  times, 
galled  him  to  the  quick. 

He  came  home  that  night  in  a  fearfully  ugly  mood. 
If  he  had  hated  his  wife  before,  he  hated  her  now 
with  ten-fold  intensity.  He  was  as  full  of  venom  as 
a  rattlesnake,  and  as  blind  as  to  whom  to  visit  it  upon, 
provided  the  object  was  weak  enough  to  make  it 
safe. 

So  ugly  was  he  that  'she  did  resist  him  with  some 
little  vigor.  Desperation  gave  her  strength  ;  and, 
when  he  struck  her,  she  flew  at  him,  and,  departing 
from  her  usual  custom,  screamed  for  help.  Wise 
would  he  have  been  had  he  stopped  then  and  there. 
But  fate  is  always  against  a  fool. 

At  that  very  moment,  Jim  Gardiner  was  walking 
through  that  corridor,  from  the  room  of  a  sick  friend. 
He  knew  the  cry  and  knew  the  cause  of  it. 

Never  was  a  cry  for  help  more  quickly  answered. 
The  door  banged  open,  and  Tom  Paddleford  went  to 
the  floor.  When  he  sat  up,  he  found  Jim  Gardiner 
standing  over  him,  with  his  fists  clenched  and  his  eyes 
blazing. 

Tom  struggled  to  his  feet. 

27 


418  A  PAPEK   CITY. 

"  What  business  have  you  in  my  room  ?  "  he  de 
manded,  blue  with  rage. 

In  another  instant,  he  was  on  his  back  again,  and 
Jim  Gardiner  was  on  his  knees,  not  exactly  in  the  at 
titude  of  prayer.  He  had  a  knee  outside  of  Paddle- 
ford's  body,  and  in  each  hand  he  grasped  one  of  his 
long  ears,  and  bumped  the  head  of  the  prostrate 
wretch  with  all  the  power  he  could  command.  Each 
bump  was  accompanied  with  appropriate  remarks. 

"  Business  in  your  room  !  "  (bump).  "  I've  heard 
you  abuse  that  woman  "  (bump)  "  for  a  week,  which 
is  just  long  enough  for  any  man,  even  if  he  didn't 
happen  to  care  any  thing  for  her.  If  I  let  you  up 
alive  now"  (bump),  "it  will  only  be  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  killing  you  at  leisure "  (bump,  bump). 
"  Get  up,  you  dog,  and  remember  what  I  say  to  you. 
I  shall  always  be  within  ear-shot  of  this  room,  when 
you  are  in  it ;  and,  if  I  ever  hear  a  word  that  is  not 
kind  to  that  woman,  or  ever  know  of  your  laying  a 
finger  on  her,  I'll  kill  you"  (bump,  bump).  "Do 
you  hear  me  ?  I'll  kill  you  "  (bump)  ;  "  Til  kill 
you !  " 

And  Jim,  lifting  Tom  up,  left  him  dazed  and  be 
wildered,  not  knowing  which  he  hated  most,  his  wife 
or  her  champion. 

It  was  impossible  that  an  event,  which  had  in  it  all 
the  elements  of  a  scandal,  should  be  kept  quiet  in  a 
village  like  New  Canton.  The  landlady  of  the  hotel 
was  discreet ;  but  landladies  are  always  in  the  vicinity 
of  whatever  scandals  occur  under  their  roof-trees. 
jShe  was  at  the  door  while  Gardiner  was  teaching 
Paddleford  a  lesson  in  decency,  and  heard  the  quar 
rel.  Being  a  woman,  and  over  forty-five,  can  it  be 


WHAT  HAPPENED  TO  TOM  PADDLEFORD.   419 

wondered  that  she  confided  it  to  her  sister,  and  that 
it  was  over  the  town  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours? 
Paddleford's  fellow  clerks  noticed  the  bruises  on  his 
face,  and  asked  the  cause  ;  and  his  employer  repri 
manded  him  for  appearing  at  the  store  in  such  a 
state. 

That  evening,  in  his  cups,  Paddleford  cursed  Gardi 
ner,  and  made  a  threat  against  him,  which  was  vir 
tually  a  confession  of  the  precise  facts  in  the  case. 
And,  when  he  was  drawn  out  by  experienced  drinkers 
like  Peppernell,  he  inveighed  against  a  man  who 
could  come  into  another  man's  room,  and  interfere 
between  man  and  wife. 

He  found  himself  the  butt  of  the  town,  and  could 
not  avoid  it.  Mischief-making  men  advised  him  every 
hour  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  that  Gardiner  had  put 
upon  him,  and,  in  his  cups,  he  threatened  to  do  it ; 
but,  in  the  morning,  his  courage  evaporated,  and,  if 
any  thing  were  necessary  to  finish  the  evaporation,  it 
would  be  a  sight  of  Gardiner's  burly  figure  and  a  re 
membrance  of  the  force  of  his  blows,  which  he  had 
"twice  felt. 

He  became  more  and  more  miserable  every  day. 
Those  who  had  been  his  friends  when  he  had  money 
dropped  away  from  him  now  that  he  had  none  ;  and 
the  poorest  and  meanest  of  the  loafers  of  the  town 
jeered  at  him. 

k'  It's  nateral,"  said  the  philosophical  Pilkin.  "  It's 
nateral.  There  are  men  whose  conversation  is  worth 
their  likkt-r  ;  but,  ef  a  man  like  Tom  Paddleford  can't 
pay  for  yer  rum,  w'at  does  anybody  want  him  about 
for  ?  Every  man  must  be  good  for  suthin'.  I  am 
a-goin'  to  cultivate  myself,  so  ez  to  have  suthin'  to 
fall  back  upon  agin  the  time  I  go  under." 


420  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Mr.  Paddleford  could  not  endure  this  kind  of  a  life. 
To  be  a  servant  where  he  had  been  master  was  bad 
enough  ;  but  to  be  a  complete  outcast,  shunned  by 
everybody,  was  too  much  ;  and  one  night  he  managed 
to  rob  the  safe  of  all  the  money  there  was  in  it,  and 
left  for  parts  unknown. 

The  robbery  was  large  enough  to  have  given  him  a 
term  in  the  penitentiary,  and  Gardiner  took  the  steps 
to  have  him  properly  indicted,  the  people  said  to  make 
the  procuring  of  a  divorce  more  easy. 

No  careful  pursuit  was  ever  made  ;  for,  when  he 
had  got  away  and  people  remembered  the  peculiar 
circumstances  under  which  he  labored  and  the  indig 
nities  put  upon  him,  a  little  pity  sprang  up  for  him. 

"Ef  he  never  comes  back,"  said  Pilkiu,  "  then  we 
kin  afford  to  lose  the  money.  Four  hundred  dollars 
to  git  shet  uv  Tom  Paddleford  is  cheap." 

And  he  was  heard  no  more  of  in  New  Canton. 


WHICH  IS   THE  LAST.  421 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

WHICH  IS   THE   LAST. 

PROCEEDIXGS  for  a  divorce  between  Thomas 
and  Mary  Paddleford  were  begun  within  a  day 
of  the  flight  of  Thomas,  James  Gardiner,  Esq.,  ap 
pearing  for  the  plaintiff ;  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  oc 
cupy  paper  in  saying,  that,  within  an  hour  after  the 
decree  was  obtained,  Mary  Lewis  and  James  Gardiner 
were  united  in  the  bonds  of  holy  matrimony.  Mrs. 
Lewis  was  averse  to  so  much  haste,  for  she  still  de 
sired  her  daughter  to  marry  more  money  than  Jim 
Gardiner  had  or  was  likely  to  have  for  some  time ; 
but,  to  her  surprise,  she  found  that  her  daughter  had 
some  will  of  her  own. 

"  I  married  once,  mamma,  to  please  you ;  I  shall 
marry  this  time  to  please  myself.  And,  besides,  I 
don't  see  that  you  did  any  better  in  marrying  me 
than  I  would  have  done." 

So  they  were  married ;  and  James,  having  no  rich 
father  to  bolster  him  up,  and  having  a  wife  to  care 
for  as  well  as  his  father  and  mother,  became  at 
once  a  hard-working  lawyer.  There  was  no  case  that 
had  a  five-dollar  fee  in  it  he  would  not  take  hold  of, 
and  the  day  had  not  enough  hours  in  it  for  him. 
Much  to  the  disgust  of  the  other  lawyers  m  the  town, 


422  A  PAPER  CITY. 

he  attended  so  closely  to  his  business,  that,  in  a  year's 
time,  he  had  the  leading  practice  and  was  in  a  fair 
way  to  realize  all  the  hopes  that  Mrs.  Lewis  origi 
nally  had  of  him. 

Was  he  happy  ?  Yes,  after  a  fashion.  He  could 
have  wished  at  times, — though  he  never  allowed  it 
to  dwell  in  his  mind,  —  that  his  Mary  had  had  some 
of  the  wit  and  some  of  the  strong  sense  of  his  second 
love ;  but,  as  that  was  gone  and  hopeless,  he  was  tol 
erably  content.  At  times,  the  dark  hair,  the  sweet 
eyes,  the  clear  mind  of  the  girl  he  had  deserted  came 
to  him,  and  he  sighed,  "  It  might  have  been."  He 
found,  as  he  grew  older,  that  public  opinion  was  not 
such  a  giant  as  he  once  thought ;  and  that,  if  he  had 
married  Emeline  and  made  the  success  he  was  mak 
ing,  the  world  would  have  made  up  with  them  in 
three  months.  But,  as  that  was  all  gone,  as  Emeline 
was  no  one  knew  where,  and  as  he  was  the  husband 
of  Mary,  he  turned  to  his  books  and  his  cases  and 
strove  to  forget,  and  succeeded  tolerably  well.  There 
is  no  such  Lethe  as  work,  especially  when  it  is  suc 
cessful. 

Was  Mary  happy  ?  Of  course  she  was.  She  had 
for  her  husband  the  great,  broad-shouldered  man  she 
had  always  loved,  and  he  was  kind  and  good  to  her  ; 
and,  if  he  fell  into  fits  of  musing  and  drew  long  sighs, 
she  ascribed  it  to  his  business  cares.  She  was  fortu 
nate,  in  his  discretion  and  kindness,  that  he  never 
permitted  her  to  know  the  reason.  Her  father  and 
mother  were  nicely  established  in  a  pleasant  cottage, 
and  they  were  living  very  comfortably.  Mrs.  Lewis 
volunteered  to  come  and  live  with  them  and  take 
charge  of  their  house ;  and  the  only  difference  they 


WHICH   IS   THE   LAST.  423 

ever  had  was  on  that  occasion.  Mary  was  decidedly 
in  favor  of  it ;  but  James  objected  with  such  vehe 
mence  and  vigor  as  to  bring  on  tears.  Mrs.  Lewis 
said  he  was  a  brute,  and  flung  herself  indignantly  out 
of  the  house,  and  vowed  that  she  would  never  set  foot 
in  it  again.  James  replied,  that  he  had  sufficient 
strength  to  endure  even  that  desertion,  and  it  ended. 
Mrs.  Lewis  predicts  his  failure,  and  ascribes  what 
ever  of  success  he  has  to  her  council  and  advice ;  but 
tells  her  friends,  confidentially,  that  he  is  a  close,  sel 
fish  man,  who  does  not  appreciate  the  blessings  Provi 
dence  has  showered  upon  him. 

Peppernell !  Gorgeous  Peppernell !  On  a  splen 
did  farm,  stocked  with  the  choicest  cattle  and  the 
finest  horses,  lives  the  great  Peppernell.  It  is  in  his 
wife's  name ;  and  the  creditors  of  the  land  company 
and  savings-bank  have  tried  to  get  at  it,  in  vain.  He 
passes  his  time  at  Pilkin's  (the  Grand  Central  and 
Continental  are  no  more),  and  inveighes  loudly  against 
Burt,  who  he  declares  ruined  him  and  the  town  as 
well.  But  the  people  declare  that  he  was  as  deep  in 
the  mire  as  Burt  was  in  the  mud,  and,  if  he  did  not 
get  his  full  share  of  the  swindle,  it  was  because  of 
Bnrt's  superior  shrewdness.  He  has  friends,  as  any 
man  may  have  who  is  willing  to  pay  for  unlimited 
rum  ;  but,  among  the  good  people  of  New  Canton, 
Col.  Peppernell  has  lost  caste.  He  ran  for  an  office 
once,  but  was  so  ignominiously  beaten  that  he  gave 
up  all  idea  of  ever  taking  his  old  place  again,  and 
contented  himself  with  what  money  he  has  and  what 
it  would  bring  him. 


424  A   PAPER   CITY. 

Mrs.  Burt  was  left  with  a  competency  in  her  own 
name  ;  and,  as  no  one  connected  her  in  any  way  with 
her  husband's  transgressions,  she  lives  as  she  always 
did.  She  never  doubted  the  devotion  of  Charles  to 
her,  but  believes  that  Peppernell,  Sharp,  and  Peak 
inveigled  him  into  speculations  that  ruined  him,  and 
that  it  so  preyed  upon  his  mind  that  it  drove  him 
away,  even  from  her.  She  consumes  more  medicines 
than  formerly,  to  keep  her  spirits  in  any  thing  like 
working  ord<3r. 

In  Brussels — Belgium  being  a  country  which  has 
no  extradition  treaty  with  the  United  States  —  there 
was  seen  for  a  time  a  wan,  pale-faced  man,  known 
among  the  few  who  knew  him  at  all  as  Mr.  Elwood. 
He  was  a  nervous  man,  who  scanned  very  closely  all 
the  Americans  he  met  in  public  places,  and  made  no 
acquaintances  with  people  from  the  Northwestern 
States.  He  was  a  full-bearded  man,  with  luxuriant 
whiskers  and  moustaches,  and  dressed  in  the  English 
style.  He  had  a  trick  of  starting  uneasily  when  any 
one  came  into  the  room  where  he  was  sitting,  as 
though  perpetually  on  his  guard  against  being  sur 
prised. 

It  so  happened  one  day,  that,  in  a  public  hall,  an 
American  observed  him  closely,  and  walked  up  to  him, 
despite  Mr.  Elwood's  desire  to  avoid  him. 

"  Burt,  is  this  you  ?  Heavens  I  how  you  have 
changed  !  I  should  hardly  have  known  you.  What 
do  you  keep  so  close  for?  Don't  you  know  me? 
Hawkins,  Chicago.  I  am  here  for  a  little  trouble  I 
had.  You  needn't  fight  so  shy.  They  can't  take  you 
back  from  here.  I  don't  back  down,  as  you  do.  I 


WHICH   IS   THE   LAST.  4£5 

am  here  in  my  own  name.  Of  course,  the  nice  peo 
ple  know  all  about  my  trouble,  and  keep  clear  of  me  ; 
but  there  are  lots  of  good  fellows  who  don't  care  a 
straw,  so  you  have  the  ducats  to  pay  your  way. 
Why,  Burt,  we  have  a  little  club  here,  made  up  of 
gentlemen  in  trouble,  who  left  their  country  for  its 
good  ;  and  roaring  times  we  have,  I  assure  you.  It's 

jolly." 

The  coarser  thief  slapped  him  upon  the  shoulder 
and  rallied  him  upon  his  down-hcartedness. 

"Did  my  leaving  make  much  stir?"  asked  Burt, 
tremulously. 

"  Of  course  it  did.  It  was  in  all  the  papers  as  the 
cutest  thing  for  years.  You  got  out  so  easily  and  so 
neatly  and  got  away  with  the  plunder  so  nicely.  And 
then  the  wonderful  girl  you  carried  away  with  you  ! 
By  the  way,  is  she  litre  ?  She  was  pretty  enough  to 
make  a  sensation  in  this  place.  What  do  you  keep 
her  mewed  up  so  closely  for?  " 

Burt  rushed  away  without  the  courtesy  of  a  part 
ing  salute.  He  a  fit  man  to  be  proposed  as  a  member 
of  a  club  of  defaulters  !  He  the  associate  of  a  low 
scoundrel  like  Hawkins !  And  the  allusion  to  Erne- 
line,  for  whom,  more  than  for  any  thing  else,  he  had 
brought  this  degradation  upon  himself;  and  she  as 
far  from  him  as  though  death  had  taken  her.  It  was 
too  much. 

The  next  day,  he  found  Hawkins  had  evidently 
made  him  known  to  the  frequenters  of  the  public 
places,  and  his  identity  was  known.  He  was  stared 
at  everywhere  ;  significant  looks  were  cast  at  him, 
and  eyeglasses  were  leveled,  and  the  common  courte 
sies  that  strangers  pay  each  other  were  denied  him. 


426  A  PAPER   CITY. 

He  would  not  go  among  thieves,  and  he  was  barred 
from  every  one  else.  He  left  Brussels;  and,  assuming 
another  disguise,  went  to  Paris.  He  was  allowed  but 
little  quiet  there.  Disguise  himself  as  he  would,  he 
found  plenty  who  knew  him.  London  was  no  better, 
Berlin  could  not  hide  him,  and  he  wandered  from  one 
city  to  another ;  but  wherever  he  went  his  sin  found 
him  out.  He  could  not  go  home,  for  there  were  in 
dictments  against  him  which  he  dare  not  face  ;  and 
he  wandered,  an  outcast  and  pariah.  He  lived,  for 
he  had  invested  his  stealings  well ;  but  all  that  he  de 
sired  to  live  for  was  gone.  Existence  of  the  loneliest 
and  most  miserable  kind  was  all  that  was  left  him. 

In  a  poor  hotel  in  a  small  village  in  Germany,  a 
wasted,  faded  man  was  lying  sick.  The  physicians 
were  puzzled  to  know  the  disease  that  was  taking  him 
to  his  grave,  and  they  prescribed  entirely  at  random. 
One  night  he  had  a  long  interview  with  an  American 
who  happened  to  be  at  the  hotel,  —  there  were  some 
sort  of  medicinal  springs  there,  —  and  many  papers 
were  drawn  up  and  signed,  with  the  array  of  witnes 
ses  that  the  law  in  all  countries  makes  necessary. 
He  died  the  next  morning,  and  was  buried,  at  his  own 
request,  without  a  tombstone  to  show  what  fragment 
of  mortality  was  left  in  his  grave.  But,  some  weeks 
after,  Mrs.  Burt's  attorney  in  New  Canton,  received 
letters  from  an  American  attorney  in  German}-,  en 
closing  papers  necessary  to  draw  a  large  amount  of 
money,  with  instructions  to  pay  certain  sums  to  a 
number  of  poor  people  in  New  Canton,  who  had  lost 
their  all  in  the  failure  of  the  savings-bank.  This 
sum  did  not  make  them  good,  but  it  was  a  help  to 
most  of  them  ;  and,  though  the  attorney  kept  the  se- 


WHICH   IS   THE   LAST.  427 

cret,  it  was  generally  understood  that  the  defaulter, 
in  his  last  moments,  had  done  this  act  of  justice  to 
those  whom  he  had  defrauded.  And  so  his  memory 
came  not  to  be  universally  execrated ;  for  a  death-bed 
repentance  was  accounted  as  better  than  none  at  all, 
and  they  could  all  recollect  instances  of  generosity 
in  him  when  he  was  among  them  and  all-powerful. 
Had  they  known  how  great  the  price  he  paid  for  his 
sin,  and  how  mucli  he  suffered,  and  in  what  bitterness 
he  repented  of  it,  they  would  have  cherished  still  less 
feeling  against  him.  The  poorest  woman  he  despoiled 
enjoyed  more  of  life  in  her  abjectest  poverty  than  he 
did  with  all  the  money  he  carried  away  with  him. 

When  the  last  events  narrated  in  this  history  were 
well-nigh  forgotten,  Jim  Gardiner,  now  a  prosperous 
lawyer,  had  business  in  Chicago.  He  was  walking 
one  of  the  principal  streets,  when,  turning  a  corner, 
he  came  full  upon  a  lady,  who  started  back,  when  her 
eyes  met  his,  as  though  she  would  avoid  him.  It  was 
too  late  ;  they  recognized  each  other. 

"  Emeline  !  " 

"  James ! " 

He  spoke  in  a  tone  that  had  in  it  much  of  the  ten 
derness  of  old  days.  In  her  voice  there  was  a  per 
ceptible  quaver,  as  though  her  old  love,  half-forgotten, 
had  at  once  sprung  into  life,  as  something  that  could 
not  die. 

"  Emeline,  you  here  in  Chicago?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am  in  Chicago,  and  have  never  been  any 
where  else  since  I  left  New  Canton." 
"  May  I  ask- 
"  How   I    am  living  and  what  I  am  doing?"  she 


428  A   PAPER    CITY. 

said,  with  a  lightness  that  was  more  than  half  as 
sumed.  "  I  was  teacher  in  a  primary  school  till  I 
fitted  myself  for  something  better.  Then  I  taught 
music,  and  I  have  had  more  success  than  I  expected.'* 

"  Not  more  than  you  deserve,  Emeline,  I  am  sure." 

There  was  increased  tenderness  in  his  tone. 

"  No  ;  for  I  worked  very  hard.  I  had  every  thing 
to  contend  with.  The  people  have  been  very  kind  to 
me,  and  I  have  worked  through.  My  father  died. 
My  mother  sold  our  little  farm,  and  we  have  a  lit 
tle  place  here,  and  are  very  comfortable  and  happy. 
Tommy  has  a  place  in  a  wholesale  house,  and  is  doing 
well." 

"Are  you  happy,  Emeline  ?  " 

She  turned  upon  him  a  quick,  inquiring  glance. 
Did  he  ask  to  have  her  say  that  his  desertion  of  her 
had  made  her  unhappy,  and  that  she  still  mourned 
for  him  ? 

"  Happy  ?  I  am  contented.  I  owe  no  one  for 
what  I  am  and  what  I  have.  Those  who  might  have 
helped  me  when  I  needed  it  most  left  me  when  it 
came  near  enough  to  killing  me." 

James  winced  under  this  ;  but  Emeline  affected  not 
to  notice  it,  and  went  on. 

"I  am  contented;  for  I  owe  no  one  for  what  I  have. 
I  have  my  little  ambitions  to  employ  my  time ;  my 
books,  my  music,  my  friends,  my  brother  and 
mother  ;  and,  I  suppose,  I  am  happier  than  most  peo 
ple.  I  never  injured  any  one,  and  never  left  any 
heart-aches  behind  me ;  and  I  am  happy,  as  the  world 
goes.  I  hope  you  can  say  as  much." 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply  ;  but  it  was  'said  very  slowly, 
and  in  a  tone  that  gave  it  the  lie.  He  looked  at  the 


WHICH   IS   THE   LAST.  429 

woman  before  him  a  moment,  as  though  there  was 
something  on  his  lips  that  he  would  have  said ;  but 
he  restrained  himself.  Bidding  her  good-bye,  with 
some  incoherent  words  that  he  would  call  upon  her 
when  he  had  more  time,  he  went  hurriedly  away. 

"  What  a  magnificent  woman  !  And  what  a  fool  I 
was  !  "  he  said  to  himself. 

Emeline  looked  after  him  as  his  figure  faded  out  of 
her  sight,  and  sighed  as  she  walked  to  her  home. 

The  right  man  does  not  always  find  the  right  wo 
man  ;  and,  if  he  does,  he  does  not  always  know  it. 

With  the  flight  of  Burt,  New  Canton  evaporated 
into  thin  air.  The  houses  built  under  his  stimulating 
influence  were  either  moved  to  a  village  which  sprang 
up  on  the  Branch,  some  miles  distant,  or  silently  and 
ingloriously  rotted  to  the  ground.  The  streets  which 
had  been  laid  out  and  graded  were  surrendered  to 
prairie  grass  ;  though  for  years  (locust  lasting  a  long 
while)  posts  remained,  with  boards  bearing  the  names 
of  "  Magnolia  Avenue,"  "  Poplar  Street,"  and  "  Burt 
Street,"  monuments  of  the  futility  of  human  calcula 
tions  and  expectations.  As  Mr.  Gardiner,  Sr.,  passed 
by  these  posts  when  he  took  his  walks  abroad,  his 
face  would  give  way  to  a  dry  smile.  "  If  I  was  a 
fool,"  he'  would  say  to  himself,  "  I  was  in  excellent 
company." 

The  organs  were  taken  out  of  the  churches  and 
sold  to  pay  their  debts;  the  furnaces  were  removed, 
and  the  good  old  ten-plate  stoves  replaced,  which, 
ugly  as  they  were,  had  the  merit  of  warming  the  au 
ditorium  ;  and,  as  the  new  clergyman,  with  white 
hands  and  the  expansive  forehead,  took  flight  as  soon 


430  A  PAPER   CITY. 

as  disaster  struck  the  village,  good  old  Parson 
Latimer  was  installed  in  his  old  place.  He  wanted 
the  platform  removed,  and  the  old  hencoop  pulpit  put 
back ;  but,  as  it  would  put  a  burden  upon  the  over 
loaded  people,  he  said  he  would  get  on  as  it  was  for 
awhile.  He  didn't  ask  much  salary;  but,  as  some 
one  had  given  him  a  new  breech-loading  fowling-piece 
during  his  absence,  and  as  fish  were  plenty  in  Soggy 
Run,  he  thought  he  could  get  on.  The  first  time  he 
went  a-fishing,  he  remarked,  as  he  showed,  with  rather 
more  pride  than  becomes  a  clergyman,  his  string  of 
shiners,  that  he  believed  the  days  of  manna  were  not 
over,  if  you  only  know  where  to  find  it  and  how  to 
get  it. 

In  his  first  sermon,  he  dwelt  perhaps  unnecessarily 
upon  the  sin  of  being  puffed  up  and  the  deceitfulness 
of  appearances.  But  who  could  blame  him?  And 
the  tea-parties  he  had  at  his  house  and  at  Gardiner's 
again  with  all  "the  old  set"  were  as  delightful  as 
they  were  innocent.  He  professed  that  New  Canton 
was  quite  large  enough  for  him,  and  that  there  were 
more  sinners  there  already  than  he  could  care  for. 

Society  received  a  terrible  back-set.  Receptions, 
parties,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing  went  out  as  sud 
denly  as  they  came  in;  and  the  old-fashioned  teas, 
sewing-circles,  choir-meetings,  and  church-sociables 
took  their  places.  Singular  as  it  may  seem,  the  peo 
ple  enjoyed  themselves  once  again,  and,  in  their  sim 
ple  way,  were  happy. 

Soggy  Run  is  Soggy  Run  still.  Its  placid  waters 
have  never  borne  upon  their  bosom  any  craft  more 
ambitious  than  the  frail  canoe  of  the  youth  who  fish 


WHICH   IS   THE   LAST.  431 

for  mud -pouts,  or  the  water-fowl  at  whom  Jim  Gardi 
ner,  when  he  can  spare  the  time,  and  Parson  Latimer, 
when  he  gives  a  tea-party,  takes  an  occasional  shot. 
Steamers  bearing  the  wealth  of  the  Farther  Ind  have 
never  yet  vexed  its  waters,  and  there  is  no  prospect 
that  they  ever  will. 

The  "  Continental "  and  the  "  Grand  Central  "  are 
deserted,  and  are  gradually  subsiding  into  the  soft  soil 
on  which  they  were  built.  The  doors  have  become 
askew,  the  cheap  paint  has  worn  off,  and  children 
wake  the  echoes  in  their  deserted  halls.  Pilkin  has 
reopened  the  little  old  tavern  of  ante-Burt  times,  and 
he  finds  it  quite  large  enough  for  the  trade  of  the 
town. 

Gone  are  the  milliners,  the  mantua-makers,  the 
"  artists,"  the  "  Tattersalls,"  the  "  depositories,"  the 
"  pharmaceutical  establishments,"  the  "  palaces,"  and 
the  other  things  peculiar  to  small  and  ambitious  cities  ; 
and  in  their  places  are  a  much  smaller  number  of 
plain  dressmakers,  photographers,  stores,  and  people 
and  things  of  that  description  —  less  airy,  but  doubt 
less  more  useful.  The  "  tonsorial  parlors  "  have  sub 
sided  into  barber-shops,  the  "  saloons  "  into  groceries. 
The  mighty  are  fallen  indeed. 

There  was  as  sudden  an  exodus  as  there  was  an  in 
flux,  and  New  Canton  has  got  to  be  the  exact  place 
described  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  history. 

You  may  blow  up  a  bubble,  but  it  will  be  only  a 
bubble.  Soap  and  water  will  not  harden  into  marble 
and  granite. 

TEE    END. 


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-..    - 


23Feb'57LS 


IAY  1     1975  8  8 

HAY  31  ljj&>  arc  MPT       NOV     4'M 

14Nov'58jT_ 

MAR  Q  6  1996 


STACKS  _|J 

APR  Ib 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


